EV batteries: major players and their expansion plans
The expansion race among battery makers is hotting up, as global sales of electric vehicles are forecast to grow more than 12-fold to 31.1 million by 2030…
and account for nearly a third of new vehicle sales.
That's according to consulting firm Deloitte.
So who are the biggest battery makers
what are their expansion plans in key EV markets of China, the United States and Europe?
Take the global industry leader by market share, Chinese company CATL.
Its clients include Volkswagen, General Motors, BMW, and Daimler, as well as Chinese automakers.
As of the end of June, the company ad an annual battery production capacity of 65.45 Gigawatt hours.
An additional 92.5 GWh of capacity is under construction.
CATL plans to set up a production base in Shanghai…a move that will put it close to Tesla's Chinese factory.
Due to high demand from Tesla, Japanese company Panasonic is expanding its Nevada plant, which opened in 2014 at a cost of $1.6 billion.
They’re also planning a test line in Japan this year to make a new cylindrical battery designed by Tesla to halve battery costs.
South Korea’s LG Energy Solution (LGES) hopes to reach 155 GWh capacity by the end of 2021,
and plans to raise that to 430 GWh by 2025.
That's enough to power about 7.2 million electric vehicles.
Two new plants are on the way too - in Ohio and Tennessee - jointly built with General Motors.
South Korea’s other two big names – SK On and Samsung SDI both have battery plants in China, Hungary and South Korea.
SK On's expansion plan is primarily focused on the U.S. market.
The company is building two EV battery plants in Georgia.
Reuters reported in July that Samsung SDI may build a battery cell plant in the United States too.
But all this growth has created a skills gap.
South Korean battery giants told Reuters they can't find enough technicians with the training needed to keep advancing cutting-edge tech.
Talent shortage could drag on the global race towards zero-emissions transport.
