Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of extending an invitation to Robin Zeng Yuqun, the Chairman of CATL, to attend a meeting of the Board of Directors of NAATBatt International in Detroit next October. CATL is a longtime NAATBatt member and the largest manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries in the world. This week I was informed that Mr. Zeng would be unable to attend because of geopolitical issues.
NAATBatt’s core mission is to promote the development, commercialization and manufacture of advanced battery technology in North America. No organization has been more concerned about the growing concentration of lithium battery supplies and manufacturing in China than has NAATBatt. And no organization has been more active in seeking ways for North American companies to compete more effectively in the growing lithium battery industry.
But however the market has arrived at its current state, North American manufacturers must respond to the current situation realistically. It is one thing to try to grow domestic capacity. That we must continue to do, and we need to do it in a number of different ways. But it is another thing to cut ourselves off entirely from Chinese companies and Chinese supplies. That makes no sense and will ultimately undermine the goal of creating a robust domestic advanced battery supply chain.
One of the first things we need to do is re-engage with the Chinese scientific community. There was a time when that community was small, insignificant and sometimes rightly suspected of trying to acquire North American intellectual property not always by honorable means. But that time has passed. Today, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation reports that Chinese institutions account for 65.4 percent of the high-impact research publications in electric batteries, substantially outpacing U.S. institutions’ 11.9 percent. Chinese entities’ global share of patents in the field of electric propulsion increased from 2.4 percent in 2010 to 26.9 percent in 2020, again substantially outpacing the share coming out of North America.
The greatest long-term threat to building a robust and sustainable advanced battery supply chain in North America is the loss of scientific and innovation leadership. North American governments and scientists need to work hard to get that leadership back. But cutting ourselves off from leading innovative companies such as CATL rather than trying to learn from them is not a path to leadership. It is a path to long-term, second-rate status.
We need a new approach to China in the battery and electric vehicle industries. While we need to be mindful of possible threats and smart about how we mitigate those threats, simply cutting ourselves off from Chinese supplies, Chinese science and Chinese business leaders is not a smart strategy. We need to start thinking hard about how we do better.