Reuters: automakers to spend $ 515 billion on electric vehicles 
Global automakers plan to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on battery development and production 2030 to achieve the goals of decarbonization, writes Reuters.
Less than three years ago, car companies planned to allocate $ 300 billion for similar purposes, now – 515 billion. The revision of plans is facilitated by the tightening of requirements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in large cities and countries (London, Paris, Norway, China).
Brian Maxim, head of global forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, compared the electric vehicle market to the Cold War. “After several automakers announced their EV development programs, everyone else had to do the same to keep up,” he said. At the same time, industry representatives are at risk, as they plan to allocate large amounts of funds for a product that is unknown to consumers and will bring little or no profit for a long time.
Despite ambitious plans, the industry fears that the demand for electric vehicles will be insufficient without additional incentives for buyers and the cost of installing battery chargers. Tesla, the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, is the only company that manages to sell almost all of its cars. In early November, the capitalization of the organization exceeded $ 1.2 trillion – twice the value of the auto giants Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford and General Motors combined.
Several governments are putting pressure on global automakers to phase out fossil fuel vehicles. Singapore and Sweden have announced a ban on the sale of new vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2030. US President Joe Biden said that by 2030 the share of electric vehicles sold in the country should be 40-50 percent.
Germany's Volkswagen Group has pledged to invest $ 110 billion in electric vehicles and batteries by 2030. The company plans to build a million electric vehicles each in Europe, China and the United States over the next decade. In the coming years, the concern intends to spend funds on expanding the range and performance of batteries and reducing the cost of electric vehicles. By 2025, Volkswagen plans to become the world leader in the production of electric vehicles.
Other German automakers, Daimler and BMW, will spend $ 75 billion by 2030, US General Motors and Ford – 60 billion by 2025. China's SAIC Volkswagen – a joint venture between the Volkswagen Group and SAIC Motor – have announced plans to spend over $ 100 billion. Japanese automakers lag far behind: Honda, Toyota and Nissan have invested less than $ 40 billion.
In October, the Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra announced that by 2030, half of its cars sold will be electric cars. The company has launched electric vehicles, although the electric vehicle market in India is still in its infancy.