Overview
- The European Commission is expected to unveil an Industrial Accelerator Act on Wednesday with rules to prioritise locally made products when public money is spent across batteries, renewables, hydrogen, nuclear and electric vehicles.
- Transport & Environment says scaling and manufacturing efficiency could cut the EU–China battery cost gap from about 90% today to roughly 30% by 2030, equal to around €500 per car or a cost many see as a sovereignty premium.
- The group cites lower scrap rates, greater automation and workforce know-how as the main drivers of savings, and it argues local content rules are needed to help players like ACC, PowerCo and Verkor reach efficient scale.
- Automakers caution that strict local content requirements risk pushing battery prices higher and could undermine the competitiveness of European EV models.
- Recent setbacks highlight structural headwinds in Europe, including Northvolt’s bankruptcy protection, Porsche ending Cellforce, ACC cancelling plants in Germany and Italy after a shift to LFP, and PowerCo pausing expansion while relying on Chinese partners and technology.