China has amassed a considerable global competitive lead in developing automotive battery tech and associated supply chains, according to an executive from AI engineering specialist Monolith, speaking exclusively to Just Auto.

London-based AI start-up Monolith says it is doubling down on its mission to reinvent battery development, presenting its ongoing work in developing its next generation of AI technology for battery R&D.

At this year’s Battery Show Europe, the company showcased its agentic battery expert – an AI tool being developed to act as a virtual scientific co-pilot for engineers tackling the toughest challenges in battery R&D.

Speaking to Frankie Youd in the Just Auto podcast series, Marius Koestler - VP AI for Batteries at Monolith – described the challenges facing the global development of automotive batteries as an increasingly political-technical discussion for governments around the world to face up to.

“Beijing is bringing all the forces together, strategically,” he said. “It has gone with LFP [Lithium Iron Phosphate] technology which is winning big-time, while Europe, the US, Korea and Japan are still mainly on NMC [Nickel Manganese Cobalt] tech.”

However, Koestler also said that there is a huge opportunity to utilise AI solutions to speed up battery tech development times.  

“China has amassed a huge supply chain presence when you look at high-growth companies like CATL, but it’s a highly dynamic situation. AI solutions are becoming highly relevant to this space and how the world's major economies and industries will look in the future.”