Electric vehicle battery production is an increasingly important business, with China and the US leads the industry. Yet, not to be left behind, Europe has invested in production, and now there is an unlikely hot spot for battery production, according to a report published on Monday by Financial Times.
This hot spot is a quiet town called Debrecen, and it is in eastern Hungary, about two and a half hours from Budapest. It was the home of a Soviet-era airbase and a few farms, but now it’s being targeted by several automakers and their battery partners for huge new production facilities, with much of the dChinese-funded development.
This last point concerns several EU organisations, but the people on the ground in Debrecen have more immediate concerns with these huge new factories, and that is their ecological impact. Debrecen is an unusual choice for large industrial facilities as it is not particularly close to major natural waterways. This means that the industrial use of water could have a considerable impact on the quality of life of residents.
The whole report of FinancialTimes is long, but if you’re interested in looking behind the curtain at the burgeoning electric car industry and understanding its impact both on transportation and also from a geopolitical and environmental perspective, it’s worth a look. be read.