Battery Show to highlight EV tech, supply chain, infrastructure

As automakers showcase the latest electric models at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, suppliers, engineers, technology companies and policymakers will be 30 miles away at The Battery Show in Novi, Mich., discussing plans to underpin those vehicles.

"It has to be one of the most important trade shows out there at the moment if all of the OEMs [are] serious about their route towards electrification," Martin French, managing director at German auto industry consultancy Berylls Strategy Advisors, told Automotive News. "Without the batteries and infrastructure, it's hard to have a discussion about the consumer, the product and what that market is going to look like in five to six years."

The Battery Show, at Suburban Collection Showplace, focuses on EV batteries and components, their supply chain, battery recycling, EV charging and more. Speakers will also discuss battery plant timelines, siting issues, regulations and other factors and how they will affect planned production. A separate section of the show will feature hybrid vehicle technology.

The event, which runs Sept. 12-14, has more than 15,000 registered attendees and an exposition of 800 suppliers and 200 speakers, according to its website.

Industry experts expect the show to highlight EV market forecasts, the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act, the circular economy of EVs, battery safety and charging infrastructure.

President Joe Biden has said he wants battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cells to make up 50 percent of all vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030. But experts have been questioning EV market share forecasts for 2030 and the best path to reach volume targets.

While automakers in Detroit will be flaunting new product, companies at The Battery Show will focus on the most efficient ways to scale battery cell production and charging infrastructure, French said.

Some automakers are losing money on EVs, although government incentives are helping to offset the losses.

"But some OEMs are losing their shirts on those EVs," said Alexei Andreev, managing director at Autotech Ventures. "I don't know how long they can sustain [that]. It will be interesting to predict and forecast the evolution of OEMs."

Speakers also will discuss the continued effect of Inflation Reduction Act incentives on the North American EV supply chain. That includes the mining and processing of battery materials, building cells of various chemistries and recycling cells to reuse their components.

"The market is entering a crunch. The demand for batteries keeps going up. It's hard to scale battery production fast enough. It's not software. We can't just cut and paste to create more copies of the product," Andreev said. "We need to build factories. We need to build new mines. Upstream solutions are becoming more important."

Improving battery safety will also be a hot topic. Although EV fires caused by vehicle crashes are relatively rare, they are more severe and difficult to extinguish.

Transporting EVs has been risky. Investigators don't yet know what caused the fire in late July on the Fremantle Highway, a cargo ship carrying more than 3,000 new vehicles, including nearly 500 electric cars. But EV batteries are believed to have intensified that fire, as well as the blaze in early 2022 that destroyed the Felicity Ace, another EV-carrying cargo ship.

Dozens of companies at The Battery Show will be displaying fire abatement products, and several speakers will discuss battery safety and detail global regulations aimed at ensuring safety. Other sessions will explain how battery use, density, testing, new materials and standardized reporting of fires can improve safety.

A separate section of the show will feature gasoline-electric hybrid technology, in which many automakers are continuing to invest as they roll out full-electric vehicles.

More than 300 companies, startups and established suppliers are scheduled to display their EV and hybrid products and technologies. Companies that specialize in the copper windings in motors and generators, metals, magnets, coatings, circuit boards and other components will have a place on the expo floor.