European batteries cost 56% more than Chinese equivalents. That is not technology. It is scale.
The batteries exist. The world is swimming in production capacity. Europe is choosing to pay a 56% premium while its households sit exposed to gas spikes that cheap home storage would eliminate.
Two levers move this fast. First, procurement at scale — Europe buys batteries for social housing, municipal fleets, public charging and uses that volume to drive prices to global levels. Public procurement drove solar costs down 90% over a decade. Same logic.
The entire gap between mass deployment and niche adoption is the financing classification.
A 10kWh home battery at global rates costs under £1,000. Financed as infrastructure at two percent over fifteen years the monthly cost is under £6. The monthly saving from absorbing cheap off-peak power is multiples of that. But only at infrastructure rates. At consumer loan rates the economics are marginal.
Classify the battery as infrastructure. Finance it accordingly. Set a European target — ten million home installations by 2030.
The price falls. The market follows.