Outlook on achieving manufacturing targets with on-demand supply balance for Li, Ni, Co, Mn, and graphite; alternative feedstock and processing routes; comparing costs and CO2 emission; strategies to secure critical raw materials adopted by major players; framework for holistic evaluation of manufacturing strategies.

The battery industry faces significant risks across supply chain, commercial, and societal impact dimensions. This presentation explores the key challenges of raw material access, financing, and cell sourcing strategies. It also highlights key commercial risks like warranties and second-life suitability, alongside pressing concerns such as battery fires and grid stability. Attendees will gain insights on emerging strategies to address these challenges and drive sustainable growth of the battery sector.

EVs and batteries are at a turnaround: tight profit margins across the battery supply chain favor large and integrated producers, and increased competition in the EV market pushes toward cheaper chemistries. At the same time, concerns about supply chain concentration and challenges in growing domestic battery industries risk exacerbating trade tensions worldwide. This presentation from the IEA summarizes the latest market trends, recent developments, and outlook of the electric vehicle and battery markets, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving landscape.

Many gigafactories in the planning phase face a significant challenge. The cost pressure is immense, and prices for Li-ion batteries continue to decline. At the same time, there are only a few suppliers with qualified gigafactory references available. So, how can the right partners be identified who stay within the budget and successfully manage production ramp-up without having a gigafactory reference?

The question of the competitiveness of cell manufacturing has long since moved from the level of technological expertise and access to supply chains, to the level of industrial policy frameworks. The presentation will highlight current policies (funding, regulation, tariffs) in the U.S., Europe, and China in the areas of R&D, scale-up, and demand, and paint a picture of the most important factors for cell manufacturing in Europe.

2025 brings increased competition, shifting government priorities, and improved battery cell technologies to the market. Manufacturers must be dynamic and adaptable in response to market conditions and expect their facilities to be planned, designed, and built with this in mind. In this session, we'll discuss strategies being adopted by industry leaders for their gigafactories based on Jacobs Engineering's global and European experience.

Battery quality depends on various parameters in the manufacturing process, and the precise adjustment of parameters is essential to keep a sufficient yield, which requires economic- and time costs. We are developing process informatics (PI) technology, where the correlation among the manufacturing conditions, inspection information and battery performance are formulated, to propose the optimal conditions to keep the quality efficiently. This presentation will focus on PI concept, electrode inspection using a scanning electron microscope, and its effect on the PI prediction accuracy.

The global battery industry faces mounting challenges as manufacturers contend with China's low production costs. High-profile cases, such as Northvolt, highlight the intense pressures in this competitive market. This talk examines the evolving battery market, particularly in the EV sector, and argues that innovation is the key to survival. By adopting technologies that boost performance, cut costs, and enhance sustainability, manufacturers can overcome obstacles and secure their role in the future of energy.

Over the next decade, an increasing number of companies are expected to expand their current operations or establish their first manufacturing site in the United States. The complex journey required to create new manufacturing operations in a foreign country can be challenging. This presentation will highlight lessons learned from past experiences and provide recommendations to avoid costly setbacks. Topics covered will include: The United States regulatory environment; Site selection versus site evaluation; Picking your team—Engineering, Construction, Other professional services; Pros, Cons, and the impact of different contractual relationships.

More than 150 commercial Gigafactories are now in operation worldwide. The associated scaling of factories, falling market prices for battery cells and increasing demands on the performance and quality of the cells also have a major influence on plant engineering and the corresponding process technology. Key takeaways from the presentation are the discussion of criteria that need to be considered when evaluating and selecting manufacturing technology, the identification of the parameters that are important for costs, throughput, quality and sustainability, and an estimation of the potential for individual technology innovations (such as dry coating, alternative drying technologies or continuous mixing).

Thanks to its positioning all along the value chain of battery technology, CEA LITEN gets a general view on the various problematics to be tackled to lessen batteries' impact. During this presentation I'll try to highlight some roadblocks to avoid and caveats when trying to achieve more sustainable batteries, from materials selection to cell- and battery-pack design with their BMS.