What’s new: China’s electric vehicle battery industry is set to continue a rapid expansion over the next decade driven by growing global demand, testing the capacity of transport, analysts said.
China produced 56.6 gigawatt hours of batteries to power electric vehicles in May, up 57.4% year-on-year and 20.4% more than the previous month, according to data released by China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance.
Battery installations rose 52.1% year-on-year to 28.2 gigawatt hours in May, while exports totaled 11.3 gigawatt hours, according to the alliance.
The context: Industry experts expect China’s EV battery and energy storage battery industries to maintain fast growth over the next 10 years. Exports will be the main driver of growth, they said.
Global demand for EV batteries will reach 4.8 terawatt-hours by 2030, according to Bloomberg.
Rising export demand will force the industry to develop more advanced battery transportation technology to ensure safe and efficient delivery.
According to Kong Jie, logistics head of battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), total transport of EV and energy storage batteries worldwide reached 3.46 million tons in 2020, equivalent to 160,000 standard twenty-foot shipping containers. By 2030, global battery transport will mount to 87 million tons, said Kong.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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