Business Consulting: Enough competition in the cells of the battery

The PwC consulting firm does not see the need for German automakers to build their own batteries for electric vehicles today. "Currently, there is enough competition, and all car manufacturers buy their batteries from several manufacturers, so that no monopoly is manifested," said Jörn Neuhausen, PwC's automotive expert. The German government and trade unions, however, advocate a national or at least European solution. Now the Chinese manufacturer of CATL cells wants to build a plant in Europe and provide BMW – Thuringia is under discussion as a venue.

Mr Neuhausen said: "If millions of e-cars are built in five years, it also needs cell factories in Europe – a battery weighs half a ton". Transporting half of the world would be expensive and expensive.

However, even a gigafactory for producing batteries for 250,000 electric cars costs between one and two billion euros a year. Asian companies have a big lead in development and manufacturing, said the management consultant. Electrochemistry is a new field for the German automaker. In addition, they should invest billions in digitization and other new areas. "So sharing the risk is entirely appropriate." Due to the expensive electricity in Germany, the production of battery cells would be "feasible only if the factory was exempted from the EEG surcharge and subsidized."