“Merkel wants new battery cells from Germany”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for intensifying the country’s battery-cell research efforts, the Federal Government (Bundesregierung) says in a press release. In her weekly video-podcast, Merkel says “we know that the car industry faces some substantial changes” due to the expected shift to e-mobility. But while new developments in the technology, such as a recently unveiled battery that allows a driving range of 1,000 kilometres, demonstrate that “a leap forward” is possible, Germany still relies on imported battery cells, she says. Germany currently supports battery cell research with 35 million euros annually and more research is the only way to improve chances that “a modern production of the next generation of cells will take place in Europe or Germany,” Merkel says.

Find Merkel’s video-podcast in German here (text version available here).