By Sven Bauer
President of BMZ Batterien-Montage-Zentrum, Germany
ExtraEnergy Lithium Battery Seminar
Karlstein, Germany, Nov 15, 2005
 

 
As the President of the leading battery pack assembly house in Europe, Sven Bauer spoke about the technology trends of the next 5 years on the world market. To begin with, he listed the requirements for economical efficiency that batteries should meet in terms of electrical characteristics, construction and environmental aspects. In a worldwide ranking of batteries, chemistries and manufacturers, he showed that the trend is clearly going towards Lithium. Mr. Bauer expects tough competition between second rank manufacturers and tackled the question how the Japanese keep their position when China can manufacture so much cheaper. Price competition will be a big issue in the future with material cost rising. Mr. Bauer’s forecast for the future of the market is a quickly increasing demand of Lithium batteries including industries such as portable device where Nickel batteries are still the standard technology.

The tenor of Mr. Bauer’s speech was to better choose standard size batteries of the typical chemistries from well-known manufacturers. This will guarantee for a more reliable supply and opportunity to change to another supplier if necessary. His presentation paper includes numerous graphs and statistics.