Bosch Decides Against Production of Battery Cells for Electric Cars

Bosch has decided to withdraw from the production of battery cells for electric cars calling the move too risky. The company had made a start in this segment by acquiring a startup named Seeo Inc that specialized in the production of solid state batteries and a tentative plan to invest 20 billion euros to create 200 GWh of battery cell production capacity by 2030. This would have made Bosch a serious competitor to companies like Samsung SDI, LG Chem and Panasonic. Now, Bosch has announced that it has decided against this move and will even be divesting its stake in Seeo, focusing instead on other electrical components to emerge as market leader in the field of electromobility from 2020.

Commenting on the change in strategy, Bosch executive Dr. Rolf Bulander said that for Bosch it was more important to have a technical understanding of cells and not to make them and he went on to mention that a huge investment in the technology was considered as “high risk”.

Bosch has also announced that it would be dissolving its ‘Lithium Energy and Power GmbH & Co. KG (LEAP)’ joint venture which was formed to develop lithium-ion technology.

Despite that, Bosch still appears to believe in solid-state battery technology with Dr. Mathias Pillin, who oversees electromobility activities at Bosch saying that solid-state technology is the way forward and the company has made excellent progress in its development work.

Bosh said that its “electrical powertrain components are already featured in more than 800,000 vehicles.”