MILAN – It seems trivial, but the statement that the most important thing in an electric vehicle are the batteries is much more serious and profound than we think. This has been the case since, already at the end of the nineteenth century, it was understood that the electric motor was “more” and much better than a combustion engine but had its Achilles heel in the difficulty of carrying around the energy necessary to march . In practice, a superiority made “impracticable” by the battery problem that has dragged on for almost a century and a half (interspersed with some unsuccessful flashback).
Today, times have changed and the electrical breakthrough has become an incontrovertible reality, which has put the problem of batteries at the center of the transformation that involves the entire automotive industry. For a manufacturer having batteries is not only essential, but this component and its “performance” are the decisive element of the functional characteristics of any electric or even hybrid vehicle; it is therefore not surprising that the hunt for the most efficient technologies and supplies has been unleashed among the large groups. A kind of gold rush on which the possibility of successfully putting the electrical transition into practice will depend.
There are currently over a hundred factories around the world for the production and assembly of batteries that will not be sufficient to meet the needs of the entire automotive system; then there is the problem of not leaving such a strategic supply in the hands of a few “outsiders” (especially Chinese) and of having control and the possibility of promptly exploiting technical progress. Everything creates a rapidly evolving picture in which large groups, especially European ones, are at the fore.
The newly formed Stellantis has already set up a joint venture with the Total oil group, ACC, with two plants in Douvrin in France and in Kaiserslautern in Germany, while the project for a battery pole in Italy is being launched. The Volkswagen group, for example, already has six plants that also deal with the recycling of exhausted batteries and, as part of the associated brands, Porsche has signed an agreement with Customcell, a specialist in high-performance batteries.
In the case of Volvo, which has formalized its electric vocation, supplies will be guaranteed by the Swedish company Northvolt, which also supplies BMW. The latter, in turn, has a wide-ranging strategy that involves various suppliers (CATL, LG, Samsung and Northvolt) and even the direct purchase of raw materials (such as the precious lithium, etc.) to power the production of batteries. .
Strong commitment also from Ford which, in addition to creating the BlueOvalSK company for production in the USA, has entered into agreements with Solid Power solid state battery specialists and set up the Ford Ion Park for advanced research in the sector.
Not only Tesla, therefore, which from an avant-garde position now has difficulty developing its European center in Berlin, but a widespread commitment with which the great names of the classic car intend to regain control of new technologies and remain protagonists in the market of the future.
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