Thanks to automotive manufacturer's growing interest in providing customers with hybrids and electric vehicles, the battery industry is now reaching higher than ever values. Germany claims it will soon become a "global leader in this market segment", largely thanks to its $900 million market volume.
According to a report by Fraunhofer Magazine, the battery industry is expected to grow in Germany to in between $10 and $15 billion by 2015. Their projections are largely based on the upcoming hybrids and EVs from local automakers.
The market will also be supported by the German government, as it already announced it wants 1,000,000 hybrid and EV vehicles on its streets by 2020. To reach that goal, the battery market will be backed by the government from research to sale.
Until now, $700 million have been handed out by the German government to fund research in electric mobility. Other support measures include low interest loans for those involved in the research of battery technology.
The trend was made obvious last month, when Germany's Daimler announced it has taken a 20 percent stake in American electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, for the development of its own EVs and hybrids. BMW, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, and even Opel, they all have plans to introduce such vehicles, some no later than 2010.
Similar moves like the ones in Germany can be seen all over the continent. Norway and Britain have already announced their plans for the electric future of their cities.
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