Germany according to a study by the management consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG), is becoming a global pioneer in electromobility. In 2025, almost 40 percent of the cars sold in Germany will be purely battery-powered, and in 2030 even two-thirds. “In an international comparison, this is one of the highest values,” said BCG on Friday.
In three years, 30 percent of new cars in the EU should be pure electric cars be in China 29 percent and in the United States 19 percent. “In 2028, pure electric cars will be the best-selling vehicle type worldwide,” the management consultancy expects. For 2030, BCG expects a share of 60 percent in the EU, 52 percent in China and 47 percent in the USA.
Outside of these three main markets, petrol and diesel vehicles will initially remain in demand: there, the share of purely electric vehicles in sales should only account for around 35 percent in 2035.
Rising battery prices, exploding lithium demand
“The challenges of the auto industry are now the two big “L”s: supply chains
and shop,” said Waas chip shortage will keep the industry busy. “Lithium demand will increase eight-fold by the end of the decade, and battery prices will pick up again.”
The automotive industry will need a million tons of lithium as early as 2025, and even 2.2 million tons in 2030. The battery makes up a good third of the price of a car. Automakers would need to secure early access to raw materials, for example through partnerships or direct sourcing, and retrieve and recycle recyclable material.
The second sticking point is public charging stations for drivers who do not have a wall box at home or at work: “In the short term, the charging infrastructure cannot keep up with the rapid pace of electrification,” said Waas. By 2025 there will only be six million public charging points worldwide.