MILAN (Reuters) - The auto industry will have to reduce the weight of electric vehicle batteries by 50 percent over the next 10 years to make electrification environmentally meaningful.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said this during the Freedom of Mobility Forum organized by the automaker.

"From an environmental point of view ... I don't think it makes sense," Tavares said.

The Stellantis CEO believes that the automotive sector, thanks to technological evolution, will have to make a "breakthrough" in terms of battery power density.

"I think we are on the right track. I think in the next decade we will be able to reduce the weight of the battery pack by 50 percent, thus reducing the additional use of raw materials by 50 percent compared to a conventional vehicle," he said.

This should also help solve the problem of lithium shortage, a key element in most current batteries he added.

The Stellantis Freedom of Mobility Forum-now in its second annual edition-was established by the group after it decided to leave Acea, the European association of automotive companies, at the end of 2022. The goal of the forum is to promote debate on mobility issues and trends and the implications with respect to global warming.

Tavares went on to explain during the forum that he does not consider hydrogen a viable alternative technology for mass mobility in the short term because of the very high costs, even assuming that the energy used to produce hydrogen is clean.

"I'm afraid that for the time being, affordability will be a big obstacle for hydrogen," he said. "For the near future, it will (probably) be a solution for the fleets of large companies, but certainly not for ordinary citizens."

(Translated by Enrico Sciacovelli, editing Stefano Bernabei)