However, it wouldn’t seem so. Europe has invented the first cars and has 150 years of accumulated experience and expertise.
Now European manufacturers are accelerating their efforts, so I don’t think they are far behind. Europe will have the same success with electric as it has had with internal combustion engines.
Today in China, the electric car has reached the same level of cost efficiency as a combustion engine car. I believe the same will happen in Europe in the near future, as long as all the parties involved in the value chain work together to promote technological advancements.
Is it a credible threat? We believe that only through openness and cooperation can we ensure the healthy development of the industry, which is the most effective way to address environmental issues.
We have created partnerships with European suppliers from the early stages of our company and have strengthened and deepened cooperation with almost all European suppliers over the years. We are also building two battery factories in Germany and Hungary.
With Europe accelerating efforts to counteract climate change, there is enormous potential for market growth and our plants under construction will help us meet growing demand. We will consider expanding our facilities in Europe in line with demand.
In Europe, battery recycling recovers 70% of lithium and 80% of nickel and cobalt. For lithium, it’s 91%.
In 2022, we recycled more than 100,000 tons of material from exhausted batteries, helping us regenerate 13,600 tons of lithium carbonate. In the next 5-10 years, with the widespread retirement of car batteries, recycling will become more important in ensuring the resilience of the value chain.
After 2035, recycling materials from exhausted car batteries can cover a large part of the demand, greatly reducing our dependence on mining production. In Europe and the United States, your competitors have many public subsidies.
And you? To address this, it is necessary to create a more open and inclusive ecosystem that facilitates the exchange of products, industrial sectors, and technologies.
It is common for governments to provide support to new sectors to encourage their growth. It is worth noting that both Europe and the United States have introduced a series of substantial subsidies to promote transport electrification in the last couple of years, while in China, subsidies for the sector are gradually being phased out.