Dear Reader,

It seemed as if the whole of Germany was watching when the council of the town of Norderwöhrden near the country's North Sea coast met on January 22, 2024, to decide whether the technology company Northvolt could build its third plant globally there. The council approved the Swedish company's plans and construction work on the 60-GWh battery cell factory near Heide in Holstein can now start. This flagship project for electric vehicles has given rise to a mood of optimism and has proved that it is possible to build new production facilities in Germany. The investment of 4.5 billion euros will create 3000 jobs in the underdeveloped region of Dithmarschen. The EU Commission has agreed that Germany can provide funding of 902 million euros for the project.

But battery production is one thing, while battery research is something else altogether. It is far more crucial for Germany. The country has few natural resources and therefore it relies on the inventiveness and creativity of its people. Researchers are needed who can do the groundwork to ensure that more efficient and more affordable batteries can be brought onto the market more quickly. Universities must have sufficient funding to enable them to combat the shortage of skilled employees and to provide students with a high-quality education.

But what is being done instead? The German government has shortened the funding for the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) by 155.8 million euros, which will lead to massive cutbacks in battery research. The KTF cut leaves funding for battery research “completely open” from 2025 onward, according to Burkhard Straube, CEO of Vianode, quoted in an article on the online portal electrive.net. “Cutting 75 % of the funding for battery research will have a huge impact on the education of undergraduates and doctoral students and will make the shortage of skilled employees in Germany significantly worse,” said Prof. Heiner Heimes from RWTH Aachen University. The Kompetenznetzwerk Lithium-Ionen-Batterien (a specialist network for lithium-ion batteries) equated the plans to “Germany's exit from battery research.” Prof. Martin Winter from the University of Münster complained in the magazine westfalenspiegel.de that, “We are giving up on the future.” And Frank Blome, CEO of PowerCo, explained in Germany's business newspaper Handelsblatt: “This crucial research in Germany will be hard hit by the planned cuts.”

We can only hope that we have not heard the last on this subject. The protests held by farmers have shown that there is a lot that can still be achieved. Battery technology plays a central role in the transition to electric vehicles. In connection with this, you can look forward to the guest commentary written by Prof. Achim Kampker from RWTH Aachen University in the next ATZ issue. We need to spend more on battery research, not less.

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Dipl.-Ing. Michael Reichenbach

Deputy Editor in Chief