Electric vehicles (2024)

1. Chinese pressure

   • Can European carmakers make a profitable EV transition? Executives are rightfully worried about being overtaken by Asian rivals.
   • The FT reported this week that EU officials are also concerned about the threat to 13m European jobs which rely on the EV industry.
   • If Volkswagen and peers are feeling the pressure, so too will companies further down the supply chain. Northvolt’s travails are a stark example of the pain already being felt.

2. Will European gigafactories succeed?

   • Northvolt’s situation should nevertheless be seen in the context of the growing number of battery factories in the EU.
   • There are now 22 with a total capacity of more than 264 gigawatt hours, compared with 44 gigawatt hours in 2021, reports the FT. This capacity is set to increase to 1,143 gigawatt hours by 2026.
   • The longer term prospect of more economies of scale, alongside a world-leading European automotive industry, could ultimately see EVs merge into the fast lane on the continent.

3. Damning charge

   • If EVs have any hope of mass adoption, then public charging options need to drastically improve.
   • The business model is a fiendish one. Service stations need fast chargers — no motorist is going to wait 10 hours for a charge — but these are complex and require big up-front costs.
   • EV-friendly service stations also, inevitably, find themselves in competition with home chargers, even if these are super-slow.
   • More charging infrastructure is a prerequisite for more EVs. It’s no coincidence that China, a country with 70% of the world’s public car plugs, last year saw 60% of global EV sales.

4. Volts in the blue

   • Can plug-in power conquer the high seas? All the elements that hamper electric cars — the lack of charging points and range anxiety — are barriers, too, for electric boats.
   • But a pair of Swedish companies are making progress on e-crafts. In April, X Shore raised €8.5m, bringing the company's funding to over €100m. The main selling point? Its boats are very quiet.
   • In March, meanwhile, Candela announced fresh capital of €24.5m, for an unusual e-boat that lifts about half a metre off the water surface.
   • Still, we know that succeeding with novel EVs is really hard. In the last year, several Swedish EV startups have filed for bankruptcy, including e-van Volta Trucks, and e-motorcycle startups Vässla and Cake.

Who early stage startups are up against