EVs are poised to make China the world’s biggest car exporter

By Hal Hodson

Combustion engines in motor vehicles account for about 15% of carbon-dioxide emissions each year. Eliminating them requires the electrification of transport, which in turn requires batteries in unprecedented quantities. In 2024 the outlines of a new global battery-production infrastructure will come into focus in China, Europe and America—a network of factories capable of churning out batteries in sufficient amounts to store the energy required to propel the global fleet of vehicles.

The majority of battery factories, existing and planned, are in China. Many in Europe are being built by Chinese firms. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a firm of analysts, says that China will have 69% of global battery-production capacity by 2030, down from 78% in 2022, but still sufficient to make enough batteries for 90m cars every year. Europe and America, in contrast, are each forecast to have around 14% of global capacity by 2030, enough for 19m vehicles each.