In China, battery demand for vehicles grew over 70%, while electric car sales increased by 80% in 2022 relative to 2021, with growth in battery demand slightly tempered by an increasing share of PHEVs. Battery demand for vehicles in the United States grew by around 80%, despite electric car sales only increasing by around 55% in 2022.
A March 2021 report from the MarketsandMarkets research company forecasted that the global Li-ion battery market will grow at a CAGR of 16.4 percent between 2020 and 2025, from $44.2 billion to$94.4 billion.
In 2022, about 60% of lithium, 30% of cobalt and 10% of nickel demand was for EV batteries. Just five years earlier, in 2017, these shares were around 15%, 10% and 2%, respectively.
The calculation of the future demand for lithium for EV batteries in the SSP1 scenario is more than 6 times today's production and more than 8 times today's demand for lithium for batteries. In the SSP2 scenario, the future lithium demand is more than 6 times today's demand for lithium for batteries.
Automotive lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery demand increased by about 65% to 550 GWh in 2022, from about 330 GWh in 2021, primarily as a result of growth in electric passenger car sales, with new registrations increasing by 55% in 2022 relative to 2021.
The elimination of critical minerals (such as cobalt and nickel) from lithium batteries, and new processes that decrease the cost of battery materials such as cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes, are key enablers of future growth in the materials-processing industry.