The potential for geographical shift in the midstream battery supply chain is greater. In 2022 China accounted for a major share of the processing of key battery materials: about 65% of the world’s lithium, 74% of cobalt, 100% of graphite and 42% of copper processing.
The upstream stage in batteries involves the extraction of key raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite. In the midstream stage, mined raw materials are refined and processed to create active cathodes and anodes—the positive and negative electrodes for a battery, respectively—which are then manufactured into a battery cell.
These include tripling global renewable energy capacity, doubling the pace of energy efficiency improvements and transitioning away from fossil fuels. This special report brings together the latest data and information on batteries from around the world, including recent market developments and technological advances.
Still, the top three battery makers are responsible for two thirds (66%) of the total battery deployment, which highlights the importance of scale in this business, in order to have the most competitive product on the market. Panasonic, once upon a time a leader in the automotive EV business, has continued its slow slide down the table.
The IEA estimates that around US$26bn was invested into EV battery manufacturing in the US between August 2022 and March 2023, with at least six new battery plants due to open in 2024. The EU is fighting back under the Green Deal Industrial Plan: it has fast-tracked permits for critical minerals projects in the EU and is offering subsidies.
Lithium-ion batteries, which contain all four, accounted for about 90% of the market share for EV batteries in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Even solid-state batteries, which are expected to become popular in the future, use lithium metal in their composition.