E-mobility represents a vast opportunity and challenge for the global economy with many side effects, including big winners and losers, says Lukas Gazda – the battery expert from the BMZ Group – a leading manufacturer of cross-industry lithium-ion battery systems in Europe.
Lukas Gazda works 8,5 years for BMZ. The Group is headquartered in Germany and has additional production facilities in Poland, China and the US and branches in Japan, the UK and France. Around 3,000 employees work for BMZ Group worldwide. During his career at BMZ, Lukas Gazda has been working in several business positions. Currently, he is the company director of BMZ Innovation Group Ltd (BMZ UK), located in Cambridge.
We asked Lukas a few questions about him and the latest market trends.
What is your role at BMZ?
My role has always been to develop new markets for BMZ. BMZ UK represents all BMZ factories, which directly supply state-of-the-art battery systems to our customers in the UK and Scandinavia.
How would you describe the battery market from the price point of view? Can we expect continuous prices decrease?
It’s true that in the battery segment, there is systematic deflation. But, especially due to COVID and the global booming of e-mobility and energy storage, inflation is on the material side. It brings enormous pressure not only on the battery makers. In general, there are currently not enough raw material and production capacities that would cover the global demand. The largest producers face this situation by placing big material orders, but it doesn’t solve the issue. A lot of industrial sectors using batteries suffer from a lack of material. It can be dangerous for the global economy, products and services availability, and quality.
How to keep the prices decrease trend?
The main driver is innovation in the material, battery design and manufacturing process. Companies that during COVID have been focused on savings and short-term profit and haven’t invested in new technologies and solutions will be in trouble.
Who will be the real winners?
Large innovative and AI orientated manufacturers using circular economy principles, which means closing the loop. A linear economy is based on limited resources and brings geographical but also geopolitical risks. This all has a significant influence on the varying price level. For the battery manufacturer, the closing the loop strategy brings an opportunity to earn money during the complete cycle life, which means production, second-life usage, recycling and valued material reuse.