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Total’s CEO Questions EU Battery Project
The head of energy giant Total SA says the company hasn’t decided whether to participate in Europe’s effort to develop its own battery industry for electric cars.
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The head of energy giant Total SA says the company hasn’t decided whether Europe can mount a viable effort to develop its own battery industry for electric cars.
CEO Patrick Pouyanne (pictured) tells The Nikkei that the ultimate question is whether European manufacturers believe they can build batteries that compete with established producers in China, South Korea and Japan.
Battery makers from those countries currently control nearly half the global EV battery market. Several have announced plans to erect their own battery cellmaking factories in Europe.
Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard voiced a similar position about the European initiative last month. “We’re all for it,” he told a French government panel, adding that “it has to make economic sense.”
Three such consortiums are being formed in Europe. Leading the pack is a €6 billion ($6.7 billion) initiative led by Germany and France that includes a reported €1.7 billion ($1.9 billion) in government subsidies from those two countries.
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