EV course corrections

Issue #235, Jan 19, 2024

The automotive industry and specifically the electric vehicle (EV) sector makes course corrections to address challenges and as its customer needs are understood better. e-bikes seem to be the trend in electrification of mobility in Europe with good public transportation. Battery makers like Panasonic are investing in large factories to regain market share. In the US, hybrid cars are the choice compared to a battery EV. Chinese EV makers seem to be in a rush to make their own chips. Battery recycling would have to handle large volumes of material by 2030 and we need to prepare for it. Trucks are another bet vehicle manufacturers are taking for EVs, with consolidation and joint ventures for battery making factories. Below are some updates or course corrections in the journey towards electrification of mobility.

e-bikes as a cultural norm

For a city-dweller ditching a petrol car, the calculation becomes: instead of an EV, can I buy a much cheaper, health-giving e-bike that I can charge in my flat, and supplement with the odd taxi ride? That is the trend. European and US car sales peaked in 2019. About 5.5 million e-bikes were sold in the EU in 2022, against just two million electric cars. Many car-owners now use bikes for short trips. E-bikes are even making the self-preserving leap to?status symbol. Bikes are also becoming a cultural urban norm. - Financial Times

Factories for EV battery competition

Japan's battery makers have failed to keep pace, partly due to intense competition from China, and partly due to EV skepticism from Japanese automakers, such as Toyota Motor. Today, Panasonic struggles to keep its fourth place global ranking (in terms of EV battery shipments), behind China's CATL and BYD and South Korea's LG Energy Solution, companies that raced ahead to fill the vacuum left by Japan. In a departure from its previously cautious EV battery investment strategy -- it has not built a factory in the U.S. since 2017 -- Panasonic is now vowing to use the De Soto gigafactory as a staging ground to mount a comeback and gain global prominence. - Nikkei Asia

Hybrids instead of EVs

A slowdown in the growth of EV sales has led GM, Ford Motor and Volkswagen to walk back ambitious targets for those vehicles. And sales of hybrids are robust, underscoring what may be the enduring reality check of 2023: many Americans are hugely receptive to electrification, but they’re not ready for a fully electric car. Analysts say stubbornly high EV prices and worries about public charging are pushing some car shoppers to hybrids, including renters or urbanites who can’t charge a battery-powered car at home. Hybrids deliver savings at the pump with no need to plug in for hours or plan trips around charging stops. Their batteries are much smaller and cost a lot less than the batteries in fully electric cars. - New York Times

Inhouse automotive chips

Chinese companies are rushing to make their own auto chips as demand continues to increase in the world's largest car market. In 2023, there were more than 300 local auto chipmakers, nearly 10 times the number from three years ago, said Yuan Chengyin, general manager of the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center, a research center funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology. - Nikkei Asia

Battery recycling process

As per a McKinsey report battery production scraps are expected to cross 800k to cross 800k tons by 2030 whereas end-of-life battery scrap is expected to cross 1,100 tons per annum by 2030. The recycling of batteries commonly is first done by first accumulating the lithium-ion batteries (LiB) used in EVs, and further pre-processing and disassembling them, followed by the discharge of LiBs. The next step is the production of ‘Black Mass’ through a mechanical/thermal process, which is further sent for recycling to the appropriate companies. - ET Auto

The Multibillion-Dollar EV truck bet

Cummins, Daimler and Paccar are joining to build a plant in Mississippi to make batteries for electric commercial trucks. The US’s biggest commercial truck and engine builders are betting that the freight industry is ready to swap diesel fuel pumps for battery chargers. The plant, which the companies will operate as a joint venture, is expected to begin producing battery cells in 2027. - WSJ