WCA November 2019

From the Americas by 2024, including a new Mustang-inspired electric sports utility vehicle in 2020. Ford has said it expects to build over 600,000 electric vehicles in Europe over the next six years, sourcing components and vehicle underpinnings from Volkswagen: Ford partnered with Volkswagen in July to develop electric and self-driving vehicles. VW agreed to invest over $3 billion into Ford’s Argo AI self-driving vehicle, estimating that it could earn up to $20 billion by sharing its MEB electric vehicle architecture with Ford in Europe. The latest vehicles were launched at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show, where Ford revealed it will be partnering with six leading energy suppliers across Europe to provide home charging wall box installation services. The cooperation with VW is part of Ford’s declared $11.5 billion investment in electric vehicle technology. Battery metals producers looking to a boom time, but will investors care more for stable governance than rich seams? On 10 th September Moody’s Corporation announced that demand for the metals used in batteries for electric vehicles could rise six-fold if electric cars reach just eight per cent of road traffic by the mid-2020s. This would bring a huge economic boost to producing countries such as Chile and Zimbabwe (lithium), and the cobalt producing Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Nickel and copper will also be in greater demand. The production value of the metals would be considerable for the DRC, relative to its economy, but the agency fears that weak governance in the DRC could influence investors to favour Chile, and the Philippines, Peru, Indonesia and Australia instead. Moody’s wrote that, by 2030, cobalt production could be equivalent to just under 16 per cent of DRC’s total gross domestic product in 2018, more than half of its exports, and 133 per cent of its government revenue, and “significantly boost its fiscal and current account balances” but that “very weak governance, poor infrastructure and persistent pockets of social instability” remain key obstacles to foreign investment, so delaying the needed increase in production. Analysts added that the increased focus on environmental and social issues, and the traceability of metals, could present a further risk for DRC, but even “very partial” exploitation of DRC’s mineral wealth would have a credit-positive impact. DRC’s economy is already highly subject to battery metal prices. Lower copper and cobalt prices in 2019 led the International Monetary Fund to forecast growth of only 4.3 per cent this year, versus 5.8 per cent in 2018, and Glencore’s Mutanda cobalt mine will stop all output for two years, beginning at the end of 2019. Battery manufacturer expanding abroad China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), a battery cell maker, is planning a move into North America.

Speaking at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Matthias Zentgraf, CATL’s regional president for Europe, described North America as being “some way behind China and Europe” in terms of electric mobility, but: “We hope that [the market] will ignite at a certain point in time in North America.” The company is already investing $2 billion in its first European plant, located in Erfurt, Germany, designed to have a production capacity of over 100 gigawatt hours by the mid-2020s. Mr Zentgraf has confirmed supply deals with BMW and Volkswagen, and expects further contracts with European manufacturers to be announced over the next few months. Electric vehicles are on the rise, but emissions control remains a talking point A US government watchdog has been asked to investigate a Trump administration antitrust probe into four automotive manufacturers. The automakers are suspected to have reached a voluntary agreement with California to adopt the tighter state emissions standards that President Trump is keen to eliminate. US Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to launch an inquiry into the antitrust division’s decision to probe Ford Motor Co, Honda Motor Co, BMW AG and Volkswagen AG. The carmakers said in July that they had reached a deal with California to adopt tougher emissions standards than the Trump administration proposed in 2018. “The Trump administration has launched a multi-pronged assault on California’s framework with the four automakers,” said Ms Harris, adding that it “raises questions about whether the machinery of the Justice Department is being used for partisan political purposes, or at the behest of special interest groups that oppose even modest efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Although the president would prefer to roll back the Obama-era emissions standards, California and other states have vowed to enforce stricter regulations. Obama-era rules called for a fleet-wide fuel efficiency average of 46.7 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2026, but the president’s preferred figure is 37mpg. The rules agreed by the automakers are looser than the Obama rules, but more strict than Trump’s proposal to revoke California’s waiver under the Clean Air Act to set state requirements for vehicles. Makan Delrahim, the Justice antitrust chief, has written to the four companies involved, warning that their independent agreement could be a violation of federal antitrust laws. In a statement, Russ Vought, the acting director of the US Office of Management and Budget, described: “A handful of irresponsible auto makers…aiding California’s radical agenda that will hurt every one of us,” adding: “California is trying to impose its failed policies on the rest of the country.” Under the current administration, federal regulators support maintaining emissions requirements for new cars and trucks at 2020 levels until 2026. Administration officials say its final

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Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2019

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