The United States released a grand blueprint for power batteries, and Japanese and Korean battery players poured in

The first-mover advantage created by China and Europe's "support" for the electric vehicle and power battery industries has made the United States very nervous.

Industry data show that in 2020, the United States accounted for only 8% (about 59GWh) of the global electric vehicle lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity of 747GWh, while China accounted for about 76%.

Electrification is an important direction of change for the automotive industry and an important way to achieve carbon neutrality. Although the United States has the world-renowned number one electric car manufacturer, Tesla, other American car companies seem to be lagging behind in the pace of electrification. More importantly, the United States currently does not have a power battery manufacturer that can compete with China, Japan and South Korea, let alone a battery industry chain that can be compared with China, Europe and other places.

Therefore, in the "future war" of automobile industry transformation, the United States has to be nervous.

After the Biden administration came to power, it began to vigorously promote the layout in the fields of automobile electrification, power batteries and raw materials. Last month, Biden announced that he would launch a $174 billion electric vehicle support plan. Biden believes that the future of the automobile industry is "electric vehicles" and the United States should take the initiative in this industrial transformation.

In order to promote large-scale manufacturing of power batteries in the United States, on June 8, the U.S. Department of Energy announced four measures, including providing US$200 million for power battery research and development, providing US$17 billion in loans, promoting energy storage applications, and the "U.S. Lithium Battery Blueprint 2021-2030" released by the U.S. Advanced Battery Alliance.

Recently, the American Advanced Battery Alliance (FCAB) released the "National Lithium Battery Blueprint 2021-2030". It is understood that FCAB is jointly established by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense and the State Department. The lithium battery blueprint released this time can be said to basically represent the U.S. government's long-term plan for the lithium battery industry chain.

The "Lithium Battery Blueprint 2021-2030" points out that the demand for lithium batteries will increase 5 to 10 times in the next decade. The growth point will mainly be new energy vehicles. In addition, the demand for lithium batteries in energy storage, aircraft, and national defense will also increase. However, the supply of lithium battery production capacity in the United States accounts for less than 50%, and the supply of lithium battery materials in the United States is even less.

The Lithium Battery Blueprint 2021-2030 proposes five major goals, covering the upstream resources, midstream materials, battery cell manufacturing and PACK, downstream battery recycling, and next-generation lithium battery research and development.

Compared with China's current stage of development in the lithium battery industry, the United States seems to be still in the "primary stage", but with firm policy support and relying on advanced manufacturing technology and strong capital and financial resources, it is expected that the United States will quickly make up for its shortcomings in the next few years and become a leader in the global electric vehicle and power battery industry.

In fact, after the Biden administration made its support for electric vehicles clear, domestic U.S. automakers also began to make efforts. Mainstream U.S. automakers including General Motors and Ford have increased their electrification layout.

On June 15, sources revealed that General Motors plans to spend $35 billion on electric vehicles and autonomous driving over the next five years, striving to become a leader in the electric vehicle industry. This figure is 30% higher than previous industry forecasts.

Earlier, Ford Motor Company announced that it plans to invest more than US$22 billion in the field of electrification by the end of 2025, devoting all its efforts to the development of intelligent pure electric vehicles, focusing on its advantageous areas, and starting the electrification journey from its most popular star models, including Ford's pure electric SUV Mustang Mach-E, Ford Transit pure electric version and pure electric smart pickup F-150 Lightning.

Whether the "strong support" of the US government and automakers for the development of automotive electrification and power battery industries will cultivate strong local industrial chain companies remains to be seen, but it has attracted many international companies to actively "settle down" in the United States.

Currently, South Korea's LG Energy Solution, SKI, and Samsung SDI have already made or are about to make large-scale investments in the United States; Japan's Panasonic Battery also plans to continue expanding its power battery production capacity in the United States.

LG Energy Solution: Will build more factories in the U.S. with General Motors

It is understood that LG Energy Solution built its first battery factory in Michigan, the United States in 2012. At that time, the factory mainly provided battery support for models such as the Chevrolet Volt, with a production capacity of 5GWh.

LG Energy Solution's power battery production capacity in the United States is growing rapidly as its customer General Motors increases its electrification efforts.

In December 2019, LG Chem (the parent company of LG New Energy) and General Motors announced that they would invest USD 2.3 billion to establish an electric vehicle battery joint venture in the United States - Ultium Cells. Each party will hold a 50% stake. The batteries produced will be used in GM's future electric vehicle products. The new factory has a planned production capacity of 30GWh.

Recently, Ultium Cells, a joint venture between LG Energy Solution and General Motors, announced again that it will invest more than US$2.3 billion to build a second battery factory in the United States.

It is worth noting that GM's $35 billion investment in electrification and intelligence over the next five years includes power battery projects. Although it has announced the establishment of a joint venture with LG Energy Solution and is about to build two power battery factories, according to GM's plan, its demand for power batteries may be higher in the future, and there are plans to build new power battery projects in the future. LG Energy Solution may still be its partner.

SKI: Established a joint venture with Ford to speed up the construction of a power battery factory

According to Battery China, SKI's first battery factory in Georgia, the United States, has a first-phase production capacity of 9.8GWh and is expected to achieve mass production from 2022. Construction of the second factory in the United States has also started and is expected to be put into production in 2023 with a planned production capacity of 11.7GWh.

Currently, SKI’s two power battery factories mainly supply customers such as Volkswagen and Ford.

It is worth noting that on May 21, Ford Motor and SKI announced that the two parties had signed a joint venture memorandum to jointly establish a joint venture company named "Blue Oval SK" in the United States. The joint venture will produce battery cells and battery packs in the United States. The initial planned production capacity of the joint venture is 60GWh, and mass production is expected to be achieved in 2025. In the future, production will be expanded depending on the situation.

From the information currently released, it can be seen that by 2025, SKI's power battery production capacity in the US market will exceed 80GWh.

Ford Motor Company predicts that by 2030, the company's annual battery demand in North America will reach 140GWh. In addition to cooperating with SKI, Ford will also seek more power battery partners.

Samsung SDI: Promoting the construction of a joint venture battery factory in the United States

Currently, Samsung SDI is the only one of the three major battery manufacturers in South Korea that has not yet built a power battery base in the United States.

Recently, foreign media reported that Samsung SDI is seeking to enter the US battery market by establishing a joint venture battery factory with a global automaker.

An executive of Samsung SDI revealed that preparations for entering the United States are already underway. "The expansion into the United States is under review. Preparations are proceeding step by step."

Panasonic Battery: Will increase the company's power battery production capacity in the United States

Panasonic Battery (US factory) is still the largest power battery manufacturer in the United States due to its in-depth cooperation with Tesla. In August last year, Panasonic Battery revealed that it plans to expand the production capacity of Gigafactory1 battery factory in Nevada, USA by 10% from 35GWh in 2020 to 39GWh in 2021. To this end, Panasonic Battery is expected to invest more than US$100 million to expand production capacity.

Cooperation with Chinese companies is advancing, but factory construction is still on the sidelines?

The reason why the Biden administration "strongly supports" the electric vehicle and power battery industries is that it realizes that China has taken the lead in this field and left the United States behind. Therefore, it has invested $174 billion in the hope of accelerating its catch-up, narrowing the gap with China, and taking the initiative in the future of automobile electrification.

It is worth noting that since China is at the forefront of the global power battery field, some American companies, including institutions, also hope to strengthen cooperation with Chinese battery companies.

In May this year, Farasis Energy received US$4.1 million in technology development contract funding from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC. The funds will be used for the low-cost, fast-charge (LC/FC) battery technology project for electric vehicles.