New Battery Group in Germany Forms in Effort to Catch Asia’s Industry Leaders

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“With representatives of all technological disciplines, we now have the opportunity to reinvent the battery in the truest sense of the word. With a globally competitive technology, our partners will be positioning themselves as leading worldwide suppliers of materials, components, cells and batteries.”  Dr. Thomas Weber, Managing Director of BASF Future Business

In an effort to join Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, and China as leaders of the battery industry, Germany has seen a group of 18 industry, research, and university partners, come together to form the group “HE-Lion.” The group, which includes Volkswagen, the Fraunhofer Institute, and the University of Berlin will be headed up by the chemical company BASF and has just received nearly $28 million from the German government to go toward the research and development of more advanced battery systems. Members of the HE-Lion group will also collectively put $28 million toward their goal of bringing to market efficient, high-performing, and safe lithium-ion batteries for use in plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles over the next 4-6 years.

This move by the German group is similar to what took place here in the United States last December when over a dozen tech companies such as 3M, Johnson Controls, Envia Systems, Mobius Power joined forces for the same purpose. The U.S. group has petitioned for $1 billion in order to catch up to the Asian leaders. Will it be enough? Only time will tell.

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Category: Battery News