Powering the Next Era of Batteries and EV Infrastructure: Insights from BNP Paribas

Powering the Next Era of Batteries and EV Infrastructure: Insights from BNP Paribas

As electrification reshapes transport and energy systems, batteries have become a strategic pillar of competitiveness, energy security and sustainability. We spoke with Vincent Veron, Head of Carbon Transition Minerals, Metals and Batteries at BNP Paribas’ Low Carbon Transition Group (LCTG), to explore how regional trends, financing models and breakthrough technologies are shaping the industry’s future.

Global Battery Supply Chains: Regional Challenges and Advantages

The Asia-Pacific region remains the world’s innovation hub for battery technology and mass production. Japan helped pioneer lithium-ion chemistry, while China built on that foundation with a full-spectrum strategy—investing in mining, refining, recycling, battery manufacturing and EV design. A huge engineering talent pool and vast domestic market have given China unrivalled scale and speed. The next hurdle? Ensuring its suppliers can compete both at home and overseas while managing the impact of national policies on outbound investment.

In the United States, policy incentives such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have turbo-charged investment in domestic battery supply chains and charging networks. With abundant natural resources, deep capital markets and a vibrant start-up scene, the U.S. has spawned iconic innovators like Tesla. Yet EV adoption still varies by state and infrastructure remains uneven, prompting the government to streamline permitting and introduce targeted tariff measures to keep momentum.

Europe is moving decisively, too. Its Fit for 55 plan, which mandates zero-emission cars by 2035, and the Critical Raw Materials Act signal a strong commitment to electrification. But the region still faces gaps in raw-material sourcing, processing and recycling know-how. Partnerships with Asian firms—evident in joint ventures in Poland, Hungary and France—have helped close some of these gaps. Europe’s established carmakers, skilled engineers, stringent safety standards and access to low-carbon electricity remain major strengths. Converting those advantages into reality will require smart investments along the entire value chain, sustained public support and execution discipline.

Why Public–Private Collaboration Matters

Battery gigafactories and upstream projects demand billions of dollars and long ramp-up times. Public–private partnerships (PPPs) ease these challenges by supplying liquidity, sharing risk and accelerating timelines. Grants and subsidies improve project economics, unlock equity and underscore strategic importance. Innovative offtake agreements in the U.S. and Japan now help projects secure financing before production even starts.

Export credit agencies and multilaterals such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) bring competitive, long-term funding and structured risk-sharing to nurture the industry through its formative years. Many PPPs also include sustainability or local-content clauses, which enhance competitiveness in global markets. BNP Paribas supports clients at every stage—from concept and strategy to construction—by structuring blended-finance solutions and mobilising capital.

Innovation: The Engine of Resilience

The battery sector rivals artificial intelligence in R&D intensity. Continuous innovation is driving:

● Lower costs for end users, accelerating the adoption of low-carbon transport and energy storage.

● Diversified chemistries to reduce reliance on scarce or geopolitically sensitive materials such as cobalt.

● Cleaner extraction technologies like direct lithium extraction (DLE), which delivers lithium from brines with a far smaller environmental footprint.

● Recycling breakthroughs that transform used batteries into a secondary source of critical minerals, creating a closed-loop supply chain.

● Solid-state batteries, promising higher energy density and safety—key levers for cost curves and consumer confidence.

Meanwhile, charging infrastructure must evolve in parallel to remove range anxiety and allow manufacturers to deploy more affordable chemistries at scale.

Real-World Examples of Progress

BNP Paribas is actively supporting landmark projects across the EV ecosystem:

● IONITY, Europe’s ultra-fast charge point operator, secured record financing to double its network to roughly 13,000 high-power chargers by 2030.

● Vulcan Energy is building the world’s first integrated lithium-plus-renewable energy business in Germany to decarbonise battery production.

● ACC, a European battery manufacturer, obtained project financing to construct multiple gigafactories.

● CATL, a global leader in new-energy technologies for EV and energy storage, completed a USD 5.3 billion H-share IPO.

The Low Carbon Transition Group: Expertise at Scale

Created in 2021, BNP Paribas’ Low Carbon Transition Group is a global platform uniting around 250 specialists. It covers all investment banking products—M&A, strategic advisory, equity raising and financing—and channels the full breadth of BNP Paribas’ solutions. Our mission is to help clients decarbonise effectively across energy, mobility and industry. Beyond batteries, we bring multidimensional expertise to renewables, nuclear, green hydrogen, sustainable fuels and carbon capture.

Looking Ahead

The convergence of technology, funding and policy is propelling the battery sector from ambition to execution. Different regions are pursuing distinct strategies, but cross-border partnerships could unlock even greater value. One thing is clear: the transition is already underway, and its pace will define the competitive landscape for years to come.

For organisations aiming to lead in this transformation—whether as developers, suppliers, investors or policymakers—BNP Paribas offers the insight, structuring capability and global reach to turn plans into operational reality.