How the big bet on electric car gigafactories went badly wrong
A glut of batteries is good news for anyone buying an electric vehicle, but it’s slowing development of the capacity needed in the future.
China accounts for 80 per cent of all global manufacturing capacity, but last year there was 315 gigawatt hours (GWh) of excess battery production. VCG via Getty Images
The future will be battery-powered, we are told. Silent electric cars will replace their gas-guzzling predecessors. Energy storage packs will power houses and offices, filled with the electricity generated by wind and solar. Eventually, electric ships and planes will help eliminate emissions altogether. The electrified economy will need terawatts of storage.
In this world, making batteries should be about as solid a business as one could imagine: practically a licence to print money. Hundreds of billions of dollars, euros and yuan are being invested in battery gigafactories in an attempt to profit from the coming revolution.
The Telegraph London
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