The battery panel at EUSEW focused on a question the sector already knows well: how to strengthen Europe’s battery value chain. The discussion brought together perspectives from research, industry and policy, including including contributions from DG GROW, BEPA, ACC, BMW, VUB and IAV. The debate pointed at a conclusion already heard in other EU-level discussions: technology is in place, but production at scale is still a barrier.

Demand is rising quickly, not only from electric vehicles. Stationary storage is expanding, driven by grid requirements and policy incentives. New applications in defence, aviation, robotics and data centres are also entering the market. Each use case requires different battery types, which adds pressure on manufacturers.

This growth comes at a time when Europe is still exposed in three areas: access to raw materials, dependence on third countries and cost.

Policy: shifting from research to production. New Battery Booster Facility is established

Recent policy measures suggest a shift in focus. The €1.5 billion Battery Booster Facility is designed to support projects moving from pilot phase to industrial production, where risks and costs are highest.

At the same time, the discussion is moving towards demand-side measures. Proposals linked to “Made in Europe” aim to create a more predictable market. Without stable demand, investments in materials and components remain difficult to justify.

Three pressure points framed the debate:

• limited access to raw materials
• long development cycles for new technologies
• uncertain demand in end-use markets

Profitability varies across the value chain. Raw and advanced materials can reach margins of 20 to 40 percent, while cell manufacturing remains closer to 5 to 10 percent. This gap shapes investment decisions and influences where support is most needed.

Industry faces high costs and a steep learning curve

From an industry perspective, production is already underway, but at a high cost. Building and operating battery plants requires investments in the order of billions of euros, alongside complex operations that European companies are still learning to manage at scale.

Cost competitiveness remains the core issue. Around 70-75% of battery costs come from raw materials. Manufacturing adds another significant share, with labour, energy and operating costs generally higher in Europe.

During the ramp-up phase, companies operate at a loss while building experience and stabilising processes. The Battery Booster Facility targets this stage, but it does not address all cost differences. Additional support may be needed in the first years after ramp-up, when European products struggle to match global prices.

There is also a clear limit to localisation. A large share of value creation in the automotive sector still takes place outside Europe. Full regional independence is not realistic in the short term. The focus is instead on strengthening European capacity while maintaining global supply links.

Across the panel, there was agreement on one point: customers will not pay a premium simply because a battery is produced in Europe. Cost parity remains a condition for wider adoption.

Research-industrial scale: an uneven link

Europe’s research and innovation base remains solid, with established collaboration between research centres, companies and EU-funded projects. VUB pointed to the need to match battery chemistries to specific applications instead of relying on a single dominant approach. This reflects the variety of use cases, from mobility to stationary storage. At the same time, IAV drew attention to areas that receive less visibility but are becoming central.

Battery management systems, electronics and data handling are increasingly part of the battery architecture. Work on monitoring and predictive maintenance shows how digital functions are being built into battery systems.

The issue is not the absence of knowledge, but the transition from laboratory results to production lines. This step remains inconsistent across projects.

Short summary of all discussion points:
Several conclusions came up repeatedly across the panel:

• Production needs to scale faster to build industrial experience
• The cost gap must be addressed in the early years of operation
• The full value chain, from raw materials to recycling, needs to remain active in Europe
• Demand for European-made products needs to be secured

The Battery Booster Facility responds to part of the challenge by supporting production at a sensitive stage. The next test is whether this is followed by consistent demand and coordination across the value chain. Without these elements, the pattern is likely to repeat itself: strong research capacity in Europe, with industrial production developing elsewhere.

Article drafted by PNO Innovation