European industry is lagging behind in the manufacturing of batteries that power electric vehicles, warned the top official in charge of the European Commission’s department for climate action.

The electrification of the economy is underway and batteries are a central element of that transformation – whether in cars, homes or other appliances – said Jos Delbeke, the Director-General of the European Commission’s directorate for climate action.

“Other parts of the world are steaming ahead,” said Jos Delbeke, citing China and California who are de facto standard-setters for electric cars, according to Euractiv.com.

“We want our car manufacturing sector to be as excellent as it was in the past. And that implies that they must get cracking on an important segment of the future which is the electric car,” Delbeke told participants at a EURACTIV event on clean mobility last week (23 November).

But he said Europe was lagging behind when it comes to batteries, which are today predominantly produced in Japan, Korea and China. “And we miss that sector in Europe,” Delbeke said at the event, supported by ExxonMobil.

“The chemical sector must step forward,” he stressed, saying “it’s a task more for the chemical sector than for the car manufacturers.”

“And that is a wake-up call,” Delbeke added, saying the Commission was working with the companies involved to get investments in Europe in battery cell manufacturing.

“Let’s not minimise this: the battery is a third of the value-added of a car. So if Europe misses that opportunity to be present in battery development and investment, we would lose out for years – for decades – on a very important segment of the market.”