German battery production will require government support – interview

Electric car batteries will be produced in Europe only if the continent’s governments invest significant sums in the technology, Elmar Degenhart, head of auto-parts supplier Continental, said in an interview with Handelsblatt. “In China, battery cell producers are supported and protected intensely by the government. It doesn’t have much to do with free trade. What we need is much more intensive state support, particularly with research and development,” he said. Continental has announced a joint venture with Chinese company CTIC to bring a 48- Volt system to market, and is considering beginning battery production in Germany, according to an accompanying article in Handelsblatt Global.

Read the interview in German here and the article in English here.

For background, read the dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers and the article Chinese-German battery cell deal key step for mobility transition.