Nissan Leaf battery pack - Click above for high-res image gallery
It seems like not a day goes by that we don't hear about some battery company expanding its operation by opening more plants to produce hundreds of thousands of advanced batteries. In the last year alone, we heard reports like this from LG Chem, Johnson Control-Saft, EnerDel, A123 Systems, Nissan, Ford and more. So, if every company is expanding battery production at record rates while few electric cars exist on the roadways, where are all of these batteries going? For now, the simple answer is, nowhere, really.
Most of the companies listed above will begin to slowly ramp up battery production over the next two years. As all of the companies reach full capacity, says Ward's Dave Zoia, chances are high that there will be way too many batteries and not enough electric vehicles (EVs) to use them. The battery producers' thought process is quite simple: get ahead of the competition as soon as possible because the EV market is about to explode. But if we think about it for a moment and wonder what would happen if EVs don't take off, the result would be disastrous. With billions invested into the industry and companies devoting everything they've got into EV battery production, a failing EV market would have a profound impact felt everywhere. If this disaster occurs, where would we place the blame? On the governments, of course. After all, they are the ones that dished out billions to convince battery makers to venture into this uncertain, unproven market, right?
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