According to Andreas Hutter of the Neuchâtel innovation center CSEM, Switzerland has a leading position as a battery supplier for the automotive industry. He expects the industry to have great opportunities in the coming years, as he said in a recent interview.
There is currently a gold rush in battery production, says Hutter in the “Tages-Anzeiger”. Swiss suppliers and start-ups will have the opportunity to deploy their battery manufacturing skills over the next five or six years.
The team leader of the Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) continued that in the future, Europe would have to produce about three times as many car batteries as are currently produced in the whole world to equip all electric cars sold in Europe by 2035.
According to Hutter, the investment of some 100 billion francs in the construction of factories in Europe is worthwhile. Outsourcing production to other parts of the world is both politically and financially risky. The battery accounts for 25 to 40 percent of a car’s added value.
The battery of the future must have double the energy density, be safer and last longer. The CSEM does not conduct research into this for profit.
According to Hutter, many experts are counting on a major change, the so-called solid-state battery. He explains:
This offers several advantages:
And the catch? According to Hutter, the only commercial solution to date with a solid-state battery is based on a polymer electrolyte from the French company Blue Solutions.
Solid-state batteries are unlikely to play a significant role in the industrial portfolio of lithium-ion battery solutions for at least five years. Hutter predicts that it will probably take another ten years for this technology to reach mass production.
According to Hutter, the CSEM acts as an interface between basic research and industry. On the so-called Battery innovation hub it is about producing new types of batteries, also on a large scale, which is relevant for the industry.
(dsc/sda)
Source: Blick
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