Recently, gigafactories are starting up one after another in the world of EV LiB battery production. In Europe, a policy research support system has been established for several years and has been supporting start-up companies. In addition, automobile manufacturers selling in Europe are obliged to sell a certain percentage of electric vehicles (EVs), and EV production has grown rapidly to a scale that exceeds that of China. (Photo is image)

Japan's battery production system has been under pressure to undergo a major overhaul. Especially for lithium-ion batteries, Panasonic has led the production, but this field has already been overtaken by China and South Korea, and Tesla, which leads the giga plant in the United States, has expanded production activities in the United States and China. In addition, production of giga plants has already started in Europe, Scandinavian start-up companies and Eastern Europe, and LiB production all over the world is starting up at the same time on a global scale.

Under these circumstances, a new organization "Battery Supply Chain Council (BASC)" in Tokyo consisting of battery makers and automobile makers was established on April 1st this year to strengthen the competitiveness of Japanese companies in battery production, although it will be delayed. Seems to have expanded from 30 companies at the time of its inauguration to 55 companies already. The specific content of requesting support from the Japanese government has come to light. It is as follows. 

Targeting the domestic market size to produce 2.5 million units, which is half of the 5 million consumer vehicles

Support for securing resources for rare metals such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium required for the production of 2.5 million LiBs

The investment scale required for the production of 2.5 million EVs is estimated to be about 4 trillion yen, and government support is requested.

Circulation including international standardization of battery supply chain,   construction of recycling system and support for building a type battery ecosystem, etc.

Isao Abe, who is the general manager of the Battery Materials Business Division at Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd., is appointed as the chairman of the BASC. About 30 companies such as Honda, Panasonic, Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, Idemitsu Kosan, and Mitsubishi Chemical participated in the establishment, but it seems that Toyota-sponsored battery production companies also participated.

（IRuniverse TK）

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