For marianbocek, the coronavirus epidemic is a reminder that Europe needs to reduce its dependence on China, especially in manufacturing parts for the next generation of cars and trucks.

Bosik envisioned such a plan: as early as next year, a 1billion Euro electric vehicle battery factory will be established in Slovakia to produce enough batteries to equip 240000 electric vehicles by 2024. Bosik is the co-founder of IPM group, an asset management company registered in London.

He is one of the two major investors who are using European local funds to build more than a dozen battery super factories, which will provide power for the vehicles that manufacturers from Volkswagen to BMW will soon produce in Europe. A study shows that China currently controls three-quarters of the global battery supply chain, while Europe controls only 4%.

Bosik said in an interview in Bratislava, the Slovak capital, that the coronavirus has made Europe face the crisis of relying on China. The production lines will be restarted and run. European factories will produce millions of electric vehicles without batteries; The time to build a European supply value chain is the time to reduce risks.

The EU has approved to provide 3.2 billion euros of government support to 17 companies' electric vehicle projects, hoping to leverage 9billion euros of funds to establish a supply chain for the automotive industry in the region. Bosik has raised 100million euros, including funds from the Slovak government, and is seeking support from the European investment bank to support his Kosice project in eastern Slovakia, which borders Hungary and Ukraine.

This is to strive to gain a greater share in the global battery market of US $25billion. It is expected that the battery market will surge to US $116billion by 2030. The EU is supporting the transformation of low emission automobile factories that comply with its climate goals, which will bring funds to Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Bosik, motor jikov group as and other suppliers are striving for the share of the automotive battery market, and pointed out that there is enough momentum behind the electric vehicle investment to enable the electric vehicle industry to survive the epidemic crisis.

Al Bedwell, a director of LMC automotive, a research company headquartered in the UK, said in a report that automobile manufacturers will give priority to promoting electrification projects as much as possible rather than letting them decline. The coronavirus crisis is a temporary situation, but the transition to electrification has been integrated into future strategies.

The European Commission estimates that 20 to 30 battery super factories will have to be built in the EU to provide products for automobile manufacturers. At present, a few companies in Europe are producing batteries, including LG Chemical, a Korean company that produces electric vehicle batteries in Poland, Samsung SDI, which has subsidiaries in Germany, Austria and Hungary, and envision AESC Holding Ltd., a factory in the UK in Japan.

James Frith, an analyst at Bloomberg Nef in London, said that it is certain to see the diversification of manufacturing bases and more localized production. This is not just a competition between Europe and China, but also a competition. The EU is trying to win for countries in the region or Europe.

Another pure European battery project under development is northvolt AB in Sweden, whose partners include abb, Scania abb and BMW. The company was founded in 2016 and hopes to start commercial production next year.

Bosik is no stranger to new energy and carbon reduction targets. He has invested in solar energy in LNG terminals in South Korea and France and in a Turkish hospital building project.

In terms of battery projects, bosik has jointly established inobat with wildcat discoveries technologies in San Diego, and its investors include Richard Branson's virgin green fund.

In the first stage, inobat set up a research and development center in the suburb of Bratislava, the Slovak capital, which is not far from the factories producing Volkswagen, Kia, Peugeot and Citroen.

He said that the R & D center is trying to promote the progress of battery structure and technology to make it more robust and durable. The trial production line of commercial batteries will be launched before the end of next year, when the work of the production plant will begin.

The goal is to build a battery plant in Kosice. Bosik said that due to the lower operation and labor costs there, he hoped that the price of the final product would be competitive with that of products made in China.

He said that the purpose of this move is to introduce these production capacities into Slovakia, hoping to be close to automobile companies and be able to produce customized battery products. Slovakia is located in Central Europe and can enter a broader market, including Ukraine.

Bosik has studied and worked abroad for 17 years and has many years of experience in the banking and investment industries, including working at Lehman Brothers in New York. He has been trying to improve the image of China Europe in the past five years. China and Europe began to establish a free market economy 30 years ago.

Bosik said that the central European region will meet the challenge, which is a greater opportunity than the Internet boom in the 1990s. The central European region is waking up and said that the energy crisis in Europe can be solved by establishing battery factories.

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