Dreams of European Battery Independence From China In Jeopardy: Analysts

After the collapse of Europe’s great hope Northvolt, the continent’s batteries are still reliant on materials from Chinese imports.

A machine inside the Northvolt facility in Vasteras, Sweden, on Sept. 29, 2021. Helena Soderpalm/Reuters

With an unwavering pledge to ban new petrol or diesel vehicles by 2035, the European Union’s net-zero future is wed to electric cars and to the all-important batteries that power them.

But the EU’s parallel goal to be able to produce those batteries itself, and to avoid dependence on China, is in jeopardy, according to some analysts.