The global passenger xEV (BEVs, PHEVs, HEVs) battery market significantly expanded last year, as both xEV sales and the average battery capacity are increasing.
According to Adamas Intelligence, during the 12 months of 2022, about 488.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery capacity was deployed onto roads globally in all newly sold passenger xEVs. That's about 70.2 percent more than a year ago.
Batteries for commercial xEVs, energy storage systems, or other applications are not included in the numbers.
The second half of the year brought a new record of 291.7 GWh (up 64 percent year-over-year), which is also about 50 percent more than in H1 2022.
For reference, in the 12 months of 2021, 286 GWh were deployed, while in 2020 it was 134.5 GWh. The progress is very fast and with all the new battery factories under construction, the market still accelerates.
Battery capacity deployed onto roads globally (newly sold passenger xEVs):
- 2022: 488.3 GWh (up 70.2% year-over-year)
H1: 196.6 GWh (up 79% year-over-year) [the initial report was 195.5 GWh]
H2: 291.7 GWh (up 64% year-over-year) - 2021: 286.2 GWh
- 2020: 134.5 GWh
The LFP battery chemistry more than doubled in 2022, to over 144 GWh (over 29 percent of the total volume).
In terms of top xEV battery cell manufacturers, CATL strengthened as the largest player, significantly outpacing LG Energy Solution (LGES) and BYD. Panasonic is now fourth, followed by SK Innovation's SK On and Samsung SDI.
- CATL: 156.1 GWh (up 78% year-over-year and 32% market share)
- LG Energy Solution: 89.9 GWh (up 42% year-over-year and 18.4% market share)
- BYD: 69.9 GWh (up 189% year-over-year and 14.3% market share)
- Panasonic
- SK Innovation's SK On
- Samsung SDI
- CALB
- Gotion
- Farasis Energy
- SVOLT
The top three suppliers were responsible for almost two-thirds (65 percent) of the total volume, while the top five were responsible for 79 percent. The top 10 companies listed above controlled 94 percent of the global xEV battery market. It means that all the other manufacturers combined delivered less than 30 GWh of batteries.
As always, interesting is the data related to the average battery capacity. In 2022 it was 33.9 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per xEV battery pack (up 39.5 percent year-over-year from 27.8 kWh). Of course, this number is lowered by the PHEVs and HEVs, which are equipped with relatively small batteries, as compared to all-electric vehicles. The BEV's average battery pack is probably closer to 60 kWh.
