The EU’s largest economy appears to support the creation of a battery industry alliance that covers all member states against Tesla and Panasonic. German industrial and automotive giants such as BMW and BASF have been invited to attend a meeting in Brussels on October 11. This meeting will be chaired by Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s highest energy official. The latter has promised to invest up to 2.2 billion euros (about 2.6 billion US dollars) for battery R&D. 
Photo: Powerhouse home energy storage battery launched by Tesla
German Department of Economics and Energy spokeswoman Beate Baron said in a telephone interview on Wednesday: “This is a suitable and important move. The European Commission will eventually have to solve the problem of battery production from the EU level. We need to Europe has advantages in some important technologies. For the electric vehicle industry, batteries are one of the most important factors for achieving differentiation."
The move by the European Union means that European countries are becoming more and more aware that major industries in Europe could lag behind other countries if they cannot fill production gaps in energy reserve technology. Lithium-ion batteries promise to be the power source for the next generation of hybrid cars. They also help to balance the power grids that deliver renewable energy such as wind energy and solar energy.
EU Energy Agency spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said on Wednesday that the European Commission considers European battery production as a "strategic target," and that large companies must quickly make decisions on battery investments. European companies must cooperate in the supply chain while pushing the level of public awareness to a level of joint investment."
Battery and power transmission currently account for about 40% of the cost of passenger vehicles, while the gap in European battery production is mainly filled by Japanese and Korean battery manufacturers, such as Panasonic, LG Chem, and Samsung SDI. In the United States, Tesla has established a super battery plant to meet the needs of the electric cars it produces.
Although German car manufacturers have realized that when millions of electric vehicles are introduced to the market in the next decade, they must ensure adequate battery supply, but their response is lagging behind that of car manufacturers in other countries. Volkswagen, Daimler, and many companies, including ThyssenKrupp, have proposed different electric vehicle development plans. In Germany, less than 1% of registered vehicles on the road are electric vehicles.
According to a senior official of the German government, the Merkel government will support the creation of a corporate alliance to share figures on car production and sales. The official also said that it would be very difficult for industry leaders to support such plans because it may contradict their own internal strategies.