April 23, 2020: With all the world’s major car manufacturers shutting up shop during the virus pandemic, and lead battery leader Clarios on April 22 estimating that in the US car use was down by 47%, there are reasons to be fearful for future demand — however, ultimately the need for batteries can only grow, industry figures have said.

Clarios VP of product management Jason Searl said the company estimated 20% of vehicles were inactive or seeing extremely minimal use as they sat on their home driveways during the lockdown, which has been enforced in many countries.

TomTom, a global satellite navigation device maker, has released photographs of various cities before and after the global pandemic took hold, and the images show striking emptiness on normally frenetic city streets.

“On top of this drop in vehicle use, much of the US experienced a mild winter, which may mean more older, weaker batteries are still in use and vulnerable to a lack of proper maintenance,” said Searl.

“However they remain a critical and essential product. They reliably power the transportation and logistics networks that move the people and materials that fuel our economy. Before the current crisis, lead batteries helped to carry Americans via public transportation 34 million times each weekday.

“Plus, every US mass-produced car and truck (more than 275 million), including nearly every electric vehicle and approximately 60% of all forklifts, contains and relies on lead batteries. The global automotive industry produces more than 85 million new vehicles annually. On average, each vehicle will use three to four lead batteries over its lifespan.”

EUROBAT communications director Gert Meylemans said there were signs that OEMs were beginning to open up again, having stopped production because of low stock supplies or safeguarding staff.

Next week, Volkswagen plans to restart car plants across Europe, with safety measures that are likely to become commonplace for all manufacturers, such as Toyota, Renault, Hyundai and Volvo, which have also reportedly announced plans to reopen soon.

“We have been able to convey the message that batteries are critical for the reasons we all know, but the OEMs slowing down will have an impact,” said Meylemans. “So the good news is that the OEMs are starting to pick up. From the replacement side of things there may be a boost as well, as people start to use their cars again.”

He said industry was calling on governments to be sympathetic and provide stimuli in the form of tax reductions or incentives, especially for new technologies like hybrids, for whom a boost would be particularly welcome.

Writing in the ILA’s Charge the Future blog, Karsten Kurz, Exide Technologies’ director of environmental affairs for Europe, said the pandemic signalled an opportunity to re-focus on renewable energies for sustainable growth — for which lots of batteries would be needed.

“We know that Europe’s successful lead battery industry is already leading this shift towards sustainable, low-emission transport systems, increased vehicle hybridization and electrification, all the way from start-stop technology to full battery electric vehicles,” he said.

“Beyond mobility, renewable energies and clean technologies are a massive economic and industrial opportunity, the optimum vehicles for the best-case post-crisis future. The efforts will make clear the critical importance of battery energy storage.

“A range of technologies will be required to meet this demand and the lead battery is one of only two technologies with the scale and capability to meet this vast, unmet demand.”

Reprinted from:https://www.batteriesinternational.com/2020/04/23/as-battery-demand-slumps-the-industry-finds-reasons-to-be-cheerful/(If there is any infringement liability, please inform us in time, we will delete the content immediately, thank you.)