"At the end of the day, local residents may feel disconnected from these batteries, and from the green energy transition they enable, because Hungarians are not the target consumers. Most lithium batteries produced in Hungary are destined for Western European car markets, where consumers are wealthier and already sold on the need to shift to clean energy. "The average Hungarian has the money to buy a 10-year-old used car from Germany, usually powered by diesel or gas. They don't have the money to buy electric vehicles," says Bartók."
"It's worth keeping in mind that not all of the international deals announced by Chinese battery makers have panned out. Among the 68 factory investments we found, at least five of them have been paused or officially canceled, in some cases even after they had already begun construction. Part of that is because consumer adoption of EVs in these markets has proved to be a much more gradual process than in China."
""Battery manufacturers, of course, would be less incentivized to make a big investment if they are not sure what the policy direction is," says Alexander Brown, a senior analyst studying industrial policy at the Mercator Institute for China Studies."
Local Hungarian residents often remain excluded from the benefits of domestic lithium battery production because most batteries are exported to wealthier Western European car markets. Consumer adoption of electric vehicles in many target markets has been slower than expected, and several announced Chinese battery factory investments have been paused or canceled. Generous earlier subsidies and tax credits spurred aggressive global expansions, but shifting political signals and canceled incentives have forced companies to recalibrate. Policy uncertainty reduces incentives for large investments, and some battery makers are already pivoting toward energy-storage applications as an alternative market.
Read at WIRED
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