Patience and cooperation key as China, Germany drive forward together

For more than a century, Germany has been driving innovation in the automotive industry; home to household brand names such as Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes Benz.

However, the race away from combustion engines and towards electric mobility has left these iconic names, somewhat in the dirt.

In an effort to catch up, Germany has been seeking to attract experienced manufacturers to help build factories and advance domestic electric vehicle production.

Meanwhile, China's production of environmentally friendly transportation has been increasing annually, making them the world's leading market in overall EV technology.

Most of the batteries to power these cars come from Asia.

Since the battery accounts for about 40 percent of the price of an EV, setting up production sites in Germany will help cut costs and help reduce transportation emissions for vehicles built in the country.

That is why China's CATL, the world's largest battery supplier, has set up shop in the German state of Thüringen.

Key to decarbonization

Casper Spinnen, head of public relations at CTAL in Germany, says it's important to have the short supply chains.

"The battery making business is something you do very close with your customers, he told CGTN.

"We have had our first cooperation in Germany starting in 2012. And then we decided to come here and start producing batteries in Germany and Europe in 2018."

These batteries are then shipped to EV manufacturers across the continent.

"CATL batteries are present in roughly every third electric vehicle globally, so I would say it's somewhat close to that number in Europe," he added.

Germany knows that EV technology is key to the decarbonization of road transport and has announced a goal of having 15 million electric cars on the roads by 2030.

Yet the announcement of EU tariffs on Chinese-made EVs will make those cars more expensive, driving the need to increase local production.

But the framework to do so needs improvement says Spinnen.

"As battery technology is new here, there are a lot of undefended things," he said. "There are a lot of regulatory processes to go through. We are doing it together with the local administrative bodies which is also helping in shaping the European infrastructure, but it does take a bit of time."

In addition, local knowledge is underdeveloped, which is why CATL also offers government approved training programs says Matthias Hilbeck, the company's Supervisor for vocational training.

"Battery technology is covered in more detail in our vocational training," he said. "We also have a solid basic training in electrical engineering and it is of course important for us that our trainees know what energy storage is and in addition, in the specialist departments they will also have battery-specific knowledge."

This cooperation between Germany and China is helping both countries stay on track and drive into the future of automotive technology.