Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Putting a charge in battery supplies
Automotive | Economy | Europe
October 4, 2023 – Europe’s automotive industry is shifting gears in an increasingly competitive global market. As consumers move toward electric vehicles and away from internal combustion engines, European OEMs are navigating a battery value chain that is largely controlled by Chinese companies, senior partner Andreas Cornet and coauthors note. Some automakers in Europe are establishing strategic partnerships in an effort to boost supply and capacity for batteries and semiconductors.
To read the article, see “A road map for Europe’s automotive industry,” August 31, 2023.
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Visual form
Multi-panel regional share chart. It compares several parts of the battery value chain side by side instead of relying on one single plot.
Layout / body structure
The chart is split into three vertical panels: mining and refining, active material production, and battery cell and vehicle production. Within each panel, the battery-chain activities are stacked from top to bottom so the reader can compare the same regional legend across all three columns.
What is being compared
It compares regional share across critical battery-chain segments and resources, including integrated lithium mining and refining, lithium refining, cathode-active materials, graphite anode materials, lithium-ion battery cell supply, and electric-vehicle production.
Measurement system
The unit is percentage share by region. Color separates China, Europe, North America, and the rest of the world.
Visible structure inside the graphic
The graphic uses three labeled columns with repeated regional-color encoding, which makes each value-chain step a separate row inside its panel. This structure lets the reader compare where China is dominant, where Europe or North America participate, and where the rest of world remains material.
Main takeaway from the visual
The battery value chain is heavily concentrated in China across multiple stages rather than in just one isolated activity. The side-by-side panels show that this concentration extends from raw-material processing through active materials and into cells and vehicle output.
Key standout values or extremes
The title itself supplies the main standout: critical parts of the battery value chain are concentrated in China. The most important visual contrast is that the China color repeatedly occupies the largest share across the three panels while Europe and North America remain smaller in many of the rows.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.