Assessment of the Main Criticalities in the Automotive Battery Supply Chain: A Professionals’ Perspective

The environmental transition has become a crucial element in the European Commission agenda. In this context, a key role is play by the electrification of the mobility that is viewed as a feasible alternative respect to the traditional fossil fuel paradigm, due to significant energy benefits. However, the scarcity availability of raw materials for producing battery packs and their concentration in few specific areas of the world, is determining high level of uncertainties and vulnerability in the supply chains of European car manufacturers. In particular, they are heavily facing the challenges that this transition is posing, specifically considering the reorganization and the structure of the associated supply chain. Therefore, this paper aims at capturing the perspectives of automotive industry about the different stages of the battery supply chain in the electric vehicle market. To this end, a questionnaire survey has been administrated to a set of identified automotive professionals. The obtained results underline that procurement, production and recycling of batteries are the most critical steps. On the contrary, the transport and the storage of the batteries are seen less crucial. This research is intended to stimulate future studies on innovative supply chains able to better manage batteries, and it is aimed at supporting car producers on designing more accurately their supply chain and to support decision makers in more effectively develop policy in the field of the electric mobility transition.