Armand Meyer retweetledi
NEW: I tracked all the Chinese lithium battery factories announced or built in the past decade 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 China's borders. The truth is, companies like CATL and BYD are so technologically advanced that there's little international competition. As batteries receive global spotlight for their roles in EVs and renewable energy storage, European and Asian countries are welcoming these factories with open arms.
Last June, @EmmanuelMacron was in a Chinese battery factory in France praising the investment. This week he doubled down in Davos and said China is welcome to invest in Europe if it can “contribute to our growth, to transfer some technologies, and not just to export towards Europe.”
With help from @Armd_meyer at the @rhodium_group, I mapped 68 factories in the world that are either set up by a Chinese company, by a joint venture with Chinese stakes, or by licensing the crucial manufacturing technologies from a Chinese battery maker.
I also looked at what the batteries' end uses are, how big the production capacity will be, and whether they are up-and-running. I'm really proud of the visualizations we have in the end, showing both the big picture of battery manufacturing activities globally but also the regional nuances.
Aside from the impact of these batteries, the trend also poses some difficult questions: if "Made in China" still means cheap gadgets put together in a Shenzhen factory, what should we call the cutting-edge battery manufacturing facilities that Chinese companies are building across the world? And how would people react to the Chinese factories popping up in their neighborhood?
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