{"id":591867,"date":"2023-09-19T18:18:22","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T15:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/french-car-battery-startup-secures-e2bn-as-eu-looks-to-wean-itself-off-chinese-tech\/"},"modified":"2023-09-19T18:18:22","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T15:18:22","slug":"french-car-battery-startup-secures-e2bn-as-eu-looks-to-wean-itself-off-chinese-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/french-car-battery-startup-secures-e2bn-as-eu-looks-to-wean-itself-off-chinese-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"#French car battery startup secures \u20ac2bn as EU looks to wean itself off Chinese tech"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a40721974b4e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a40721974b4e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/french-car-battery-startup-secures-e2bn-as-eu-looks-to-wean-itself-off-chinese-tech\/#The_carrot_or_the_stick\" >The carrot or the stick?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n                            <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">French car battery startup Verkor has secured \u20ac2bn to build its first manufacturing plant in France, at a time when Chinese competitors are rapidly gaining market share in Europe.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The funding round includes \u20ac650mn in French subsidies, a sizeable level of state support indicative of the government\u2019s commitment to boosting local production of lithium-ion batteries \u2014 the beating hearts of electric cars.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Construction of the mega-factory will kick off next month and is expected to create 1,200 jobs in the region. Verkor predicts the plant will be able to equip 200,000-300,000 electric cars a year once it enters operations, scheduled for 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe are working hard to make sure these batteries can be more competitive in terms of costs,\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verkor CEO Benoit Lemaignan<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> told <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-09-14\/french-ev-battery-startup-raises-2-billion-for-dunkirk-plant\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bloomberg<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cWe want our clients to be able to sell affordable cars. There is an increasing awareness that Europe needs a local battery ecosystem.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper latest channel-cta hs-embed-tnw\">\n<div id=\"hs-embed-tnw\" class=\"channel-cta-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"channel-cta-img\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/events.tnw\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\"\/><\/div>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/events.tnw\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<div class=\"channel-cta-input\">\n<p class=\"channel-cta-title\">The &lt;3 of EU tech<\/p>\n<p class=\"channel-cta-tagline\">The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol&#8217; founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It&#8217;s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verkor now joins the ranks of several notable European battery startups like Northvolt, ACC, and Freyr who are pushing to build a strong domestic supply chain in the face of rising competition from China.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, despite EU-wide efforts to cut reliance on foreign imports of key technologies, six of the world\u2019s top 10 EV battery producers are Chinese <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/business\/china-business\/article\/3228224\/overcapacity-chinas-ev-battery-industry-reach-four-times-demand-2025-putting-small-players-risk?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">companies<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (like CATL, BYD, and Gotion) which have a combined 63% share of the market. Just yesterday, Volkswagen-backed Gotion announced it has started making lithium-ion batteries at its new <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/business\/china-business\/article\/3234931\/chinese-battery-maker-gotion-supercharges-global-ambitions-opening-german-plant?campaign=3234931&amp;module=perpetual_scroll_1_AI&amp;pgtype=article\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gigafactory<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Gottingen, Germany, with plans to ramp up production to 5GWh by mid-2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_carrot_or_the_stick\"><\/span><b>The carrot or the stick?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EU officials have long worried that too much reliance on a single supplier for key technologies makes them vulnerable to supply chain shocks and geopolitical risks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A new paper prepared for EU officials and leaked to <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/energy\/eu-may-become-hooked-china-batteries-it-was-russian-energy-paper-2023-09-17\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reuters<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> this week added weight to these concerns, warning that the bloc could become as dependent on China for lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells by 2030 as it was on Russia for energy before the war in Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it\u2019s not just batteries where China is storming ahead. The Asian powerhouse is dominating the production of everything from <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">solar panels<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to semiconductors and is even rubbing shoulders with Europe\u2019s beloved car brands. China\u2019s<\/span> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/eu-launches-anti-subsidy-investigation-into-chinese-electric-vehicles-2023-09-13\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">share<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of electric cars sold in Europe has risen to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">8%<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and could reach 15% in 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The EU is so concerned about China\u2019s rising market share in EVs that it launched an investigation last week on whether to impose punitive tariffs to protect local producers against cheaper Chinese imports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGlobal markets are now flooded with cheaper electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies,\u201d said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">French President Emmanuel Macron has been calling for such an investigation for months and welcomed the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> with open arms. However, Beijing called the probe\u00a0 \u201cprotectionist\u201d and warned it would damage economic relations, a concern shared by some in Europe\u2019s<\/span> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/autos-transportation\/shares-chinese-ev-makers-fall-after-eu-opens-anti-subsidy-probe-2023-09-14\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">car industry<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mercedes Benz said protectionist measures were counterproductive while Bosch said a race for punitive tariffs and trade barriers would only have \u201closers\u201d. For many automakers, China is a partner, not a competitor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Germany\u2019s VDA auto association added that the EU must take into account a possible backlash from China and focus on creating the conditions for European players to succeed \u2014 from lowering electricity prices to reducing bureaucratic hurdles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The same could be said for the batteries that power these cars. A <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">report<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> released earlier this year by the campaign group Transport &amp; Environment (T&amp;E) suggests that <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Europe has the potential to meet its EV and energy storage demands without any Chinese imports<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by 2027 \u2014 as long as it boosts subsidies and support for local manufacturers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEurope needs the financial firepower to support its green industries in the global race with America and China,\u201d <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transportenvironment.org\/discover\/europe-could-end-reliance-on-chinese-li-ion-battery-cells-by-2027-forecast\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">said<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Julia Poliscanova, senior director for vehicles and e-mobility at T&amp;E.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether the EU will take the carrot or the stick <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach to the increasing perceived threat from China is unclear at this point. But with the green transition more urgent than ever, it would perhaps be wiser to build bridges with the world\u2019s largest tech manufacturer than break them. <\/span>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/french-car-battery-startup-verkor-eu-china-ev\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>French car battery startup Verkor has secured \u20ac2bn to build its first manufacturing plant in France, at a time when Chinese competitors are rapidly gaining market share in Europe.\u00a0\u00a0 The funding round includes \u20ac650mn in French subsidies, a sizeable level of state support indicative of the government\u2019s commitment to boosting local production of lithium-ion batteries&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":591868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2023\/09\/french-car-battery-startup-verkor-eu-china-ev.jpg&signature=0841fb1e3634dabb82940fa631435ad5","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-591867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}