The Electric: Half the West’s Planned Gigafactories Are Uncertain to Be Built

Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis last week froze construction of two European battery gigafactories they were building through a joint venture. The companies want to take a fresh look at the plants in hopes of reducing the price of their electric vehicles, driven in large part by the cost of the batteries, the most expensive component in an EV. If they can reduce the cost of their batteries, perhaps they can sell more EVs and better compete with Chinese rivals.