Narrowing the gap with China, giants speed up the construction of factories: the U.S. automotive battery industry suddenly accelerates
Reference News Network reported on November 23 that the website of the Spanish newspaper Le Monde recently reported that batteries play a vital role in the future development of the electric vehicle industry. This has long been a well-known "secret". Big automakers are accelerating the transition to electric vehicles while leaving internal combustion engines behind. And much of that process involves controlling the production of batteries that will become the new "black gold" of the industry.
Not long ago, the two giants of the United States, Stlantis and South Korea's Samsung, signed an agreement to produce batteries in the United States, further confirming the above point of view.
A battery plant will be built in the U.S. by 2025 to reach an initial annual output of 23 gigawatt-hours, which could eventually grow to 23 gigawatt-hours a year, according to a deal between Stlantis Corp and Samsung SDI, a subsidiary of the South Korean tech giant. Rise to 40 gigawatt-hours and achieve a goal of at least a 40 percent sales share of electric vehicles in the U.S. market by the end of the 2020s.
The agreement is designed to meet production needs at Stlantis' existing plants in Mexico and the United States, but the exact location of the new plant has not been publicly disclosed. The pact is also aimed at closing the gap with more advanced rivals, with Tesla bearing the brunt of it. As a leader in electric vehicles, Tesla already has three factories in operation in the United States.
"The execution of the battery plant project will allow us to be highly competitive and become a leader in the U.S. electric vehicle market," said Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stlantis, whose brands include Peugeot, Fiat, DS, Citroen, Opel, Alfa-Romeo, Lancia, Jeep, Dodge, etc.
At the same time, Samsung will add a new factory in the United States globally. Samsung already has factories in my country, Hungary and South Korea and is currently a supplier to BMW, Ford and Hyundai.
According to the report, in recent months, a number of American giants in dire need of car batteries have signed on to build factories. Ford of the United States and Sunkyung Corporation (SK) of South Korea announced plans at the end of September to open factories in Kentucky and Tennessee, with an investment of 11.4 billion and the creation of 11,000 jobs.
In April, U.S. General Motors (GM) announced an agreement with South Korea's LG New Energy to build a second battery plant in the U.S. with an investment of 2.3 billion that is expected to create 1,300 jobs. "I believe this alliance goes beyond partnership as it marks a watershed in the future that will reduce emissions and accelerate the rollout of electric vehicles," said GM CEO Mary Barra.
This swift shift is in America's interest and will close the huge gap between it and our country in this area. Currently, the Asian giant controls three-quarters of global battery production. Even Japanese and Korean brands are shifting some of their production to my country because conditions in the Chinese market are more favorable.
The report commented that an integral part of the green policy agenda proposed by the US government is to reverse the above situation. The US government will encourage investment in battery production with the aim of positioning the US as the world leader in clean energy production. One of its key goals is to make half of all vehicles sold in the world's leading automaker electric vehicles.
Wall Street is also a firm believer in change. The initial public offerings (IPOs) of some startups working on battery production have confirmed strong investor interest. Silicon Valley-based SilaNanotechnologies received a large infusion of Wall Street funding (590 million) earlier this year, and RomeoPower, which went public last year, is developing lithium-ion battery technology in California.
San Jose, Calif.-based Quantum Technologies, backed by the likes of Volkswagen and Bill Gates, will be another big player to watch. In the United States, the boom in electric vehicles is in the ascendant. (Compiler / Liu Lifei)
