Business Insights
Investments in the Mobility & E-mobility Sector
Lanxess, Afton, HELM, Lubrizol, and Infineum are making strides in the EV market
“We are further establishing ourselves in the battery value chain by getting involved in lithium-ion production. Lanxess works with Canadian company Standard Lithium on trials to extract lithium from the brine - lithium is used as a feedstock for cathode materials. More recently, we began collaborating with Chinese company Guangzhou Tinci Materials Technology Co. (Tinci) to produce electrolyte formulations for their lithium-ion batteries at our plant in Germany. E-mobility is a growing market with numerous new plants built around the world, and we have an opportunity to bring diverse solutions to this market, not just by producing the plastics that are housing batteries, but also by supplying the chemicals used in batteries.”
Vinod Agnihotri, Managing Director ASEAN and Head of MPP, APAC, Lanxess
“Volume-wise, e-solutions won’t replace the demand of combustion engines. Yet, we see higher demand for more efficient combustion engines and potentially hybrids; Also, fuels are gradually replaced from diesel and gasoline to potentially hydrogen. We invest in all these alternatives, with a focus on cleaner energy, cleaner vehicles, cleaner mobility, and the many ways to get there. By 2040, we can assume that 50% of vehicles will be fully electric in the EU, US, and China, but regulations will have the final word. Every week, new legislation come into force. The switch will happen. Our business model is about keeping things moving, so even if the solutions for moving parts change, the need will remain in place.”
Sean Spencer, VP and Managing Director, Afton Chemical (Asia Pacific)
“HELM is excited to join forces with Leverton Lithium to scale up battery grade lithium chemicals in Europe, a move that aligns with our greater strategy of becoming an integral part of the battery value chain. We feel the two companies are a natural fit and share a common understanding and vision for the future. The lithium industry is developing rapidly, and we are delighted to see our company continues to grow and gain more relevance in the energy storage space.”
Daniel Loh, President Chemicals Asia, HELM Asia
“We are tailoring our solutions to emerging issues around EVs: One of the most significant ceilings to EV development is fast-charging capability while maintaining peak battery function throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle. Water-glycol cooling systems have proven to be a significant improvement over air-cooling systems, but these present a downfall in terms of charging duration and safety. Immersion cooling is a new system that submerges the battery pack within a dielectric liquid (coolant). As this technology becomes more popular, the fluids used in the process will have to evolve too, and this is where Lubrizol can play an important role.”
Paul Nai, Managing Director, Lubrizol Southeast Asia
“Infineum is investing considerably in the e-fluid additives market, consistently improving its e-mobility additive technology. EVs and hybrid cars also need fluids like coolants for their moving parts, and we make power transmission fluids for both. At the same time, Infineum remains very close to our strength – power transmission and combustion engine fluids – which represent more than 90% of our global production capacity. We work with OEMs closely, establishing a position in the growing EV sector while also remaining a reliable partner for the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) market.”
John Hong, APAC Sales Director and Singapore Country Head, Infineum
