Lithium batteries are the lifeblood of electric vehicles. With more and more EVs hitting the road every year, there is nowhere to go but up for the lithium battery market. While Western legacy automakers are busy rolling out new all-electric models, large-scale manufacturing of lithium batteries seem to be dominated by Asian companies. In this guide, I ranked and reviewed the top 5 EV battery manufacturers.
- CATL
- LG Energy Solution
- BYD
- Panasonic
- SK Innovation
Lithium-ion batteries, or Li-ion batteries, are the most common type of batteries found in EVs. The total battery capacity installed in electric vehicles in 2021 amounted to 296.8 GWh, which was 102.3 per cent higher than 2020. A typical EV can contain thousands of Li-ion battery cells, arranged into battery modules.
For a list of top EV battery recyclers, read Top 5 Battery Recyclers in 2022.
What are the Top 5 EV Battery Manufacturers?
My top picks are CATL, LG Energy Solution, BYD, Panasonic and SK Innovation.
1. CATL
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) is a Chinese battery manufacturer founded in 2011. The company specializes in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems, as well as battery management systems.
Some of CATL’s customers include Tesla, Peugeot, Hyundai, Honda, BMW, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. CATL is the world’s number one battery producer, building 96.7 GWh of capacity in 2021 alone, supplying one-third of the world’s EV batteries.
Country of origin:
China
Customers:
Visit their website for more information.
2. LG Energy Solution
LG Energy Solution is a battery company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The company was spun off from LG Chem, South Korea’s largest chemical company. LGES manufactures large lithium-ion battery cells and packs for EVs and other energy storage applications.
LGES accounts for more than 20% of the global electric vehicle (EV) battery market and supplies car making giants including Tesla, General Motors and Volkswagen.
Country of origin:
South Korea
Customers:
Visit their website for more information.
3. BYD
BYD stands for Build Your Dreams. You may have heard of BYD before. The Chinese EV maker is a rising star in the industry that just overtook Tesla in EV sales in 2022. What you may not know is BYD is also a massive EV battery manufacturer. Backed by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, BYD is a publicly listed and headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
Besides electric cars and lithium-ion batteries, BYD also manufactures electric bicycles, buses, trucks, forklifts, monorail train and buses, photovoltaic modules, face masks, rechargeable batteries, and handset components.
Ford, Toyota, Peugeot, Citroën, Daimler and Xiaomi are all BYD’s customers.
Country of origin:
China
Customers:
Visit their website for more information.
4. Panasonic
Panasonic is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Osaka. The company is founded in 1918 and is one of the oldest players in the battery industry.
In its early days, Tesla mainly relied on Panasonic for its supply of 18650 lithium-ion batteries, until it decided to develop its own 4680 Li-ion batteries.
Country of origin:
Japan
Customers:
Visit their website for more information.
5. SK Innovation
SK Innovation was created through a restructuring of SK Energy in 2011, which was established in 2007 by splitting South Korea’s top refiner SK Corporation into an energy operation and holding company. Based in Seoul, Korea, the company counts Volkswagen, Ford and Mercedes-Benz among its customers.
Country of origin:
South Korea
Customers:
Visit their website for more information.
Summary
EV battery makers are like businessmen selling picks and shovels to miners in a gold rush. As EVs become mainstream in the coming decade, we can expect these companies to stand firmly in a position to make A LOT OF money. Where do the other opportunities lie? Lithium mining, of course. I will soon write another article on the top lithium mining companies in the world.