EU boosts battery R&D funding

The European Commission has approved $3.5 billion in state aid for 12 European countries to fund R&D for lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries as part of the bloc’s European Battery Innovation (EuBatin) program. The public funding is expected to draw a further $10.6 billion from the private sector. The funding will apply to R&D along the battery value chain, including the extraction of raw materials, design and manufacture of battery cells and packs, and technologies for battery recycling. EuBatin has 42 direct participants, including Arkema, BMW, Borealis, Solvay, and Tesla, along with 150 external partners such as universities, research organizations, and smaller companies. EuBatin will be coordinated by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and is expected to generate nearly 300 collaborations among the direct participants. “This strong pan-European project will help revolutionise the battery market,” European Commission vice president Maroš Šefčovič says in a statement.