Europe is witnessing an increased construction of factories to supply batteries for electric vehicles (EV), according to ING. In a new report exploring how the EU is paving the road to electric mobility, the Dutch banking group said car manufacturers were increasingly partnering with ‘gigafactories’ – manufacturing facilities producing components and products associated with electrification and decarbonisation technologies – and investing in strategic shares further up the value chain, such as in lithium refineries or mines, to future-proof their businesses. ING’s research explored aspects including: the transition to electric mobility; the need to build infrastructure that meets the demands of that transition; the need to localise production to create more sustainable supply chains and protect against geopolitical instability; the impact and importance of EU and member state governments’ supporting transactions; and the future of EV battery value chains – including an increase in US factories dedicated to producing cathode active material and lithium hydroxide. According to ING, the growing trend of more gigafactories being built across Europe to supply EV batteries is fuelled by two factors. “The first is the need to build the infrastructure that the transition to electric mobility demands – after all, behind every new EV coming onto the road is a battery that needs to be produced,” it said. “And the second is to localise production, not only to create more sustainable supply chains but also to protect against geopolitical instability.”
