LITHIUM 2021: Lithium-ion battery will remain top EV solution

The lithium-ion battery will remain the dominant solution for the electric vehicle (EV) market for the foreseeable future, according to market analysts.

Lithium ion will be the dominant technology due to efficiency and cost, former chief executive officer of LG Chem Power and advisor to the battery industry Prabhakar Patil said during Fastmarkets’ Lithium Supply & Markets conference 2021 in Las Vegas on Wednesday September 22. “The mass EV market will be different flavors of lithium-ion batteries.”

That being said, lithium-ion battery prices, which have been consistently falling, might rise this year given the sharp rise in lithium prices, said Patil. 

Fastmarkets’ assessment of the lithium hydroxide monohydrate 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery grade, spot price, cif China, Japan & Korea was at $20-21 per kilogram on September 16, more than double the $8.50-9.50-per-kg level it began 2021 at.

There are now nearly 900,000 EV charging stations globally, Patil said, cementing the growth of the EV market. “EV market share continues to press ahead,” agreed Adam Panayi, managing director at Rho Motion. Western original equipment manufacturers are catching up to their Asian counterparts, Panavi said.

Battery production has been growing to support increased EV demand. Global battery output was about 150 gigawatt hours (GWh) last year. By July 2021, it had already reached 130 GWh, and could hit 250 GWh by the end of the year, Patil said.

What to read next
Fastmarkets will amend the specifications of its existing price assessments for Europe/US lithium spot battery-grade and technical-grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate to remove the US footprint, and will launch weekly price assessments for spot battery-grade and technical-grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate for the United States and Canada on Thursday April 4.
A bullish consensus formed last week in Shanghai as leading market participants met for the annual CPICC conference and Shanghai Pulp Week. Meetings were held against the backdrop of growing concerns around market pulp and woodchip supply, while questions remained around the strength of underlying demand. Heading into the week, the rally in pulp prices […]
Chile’s government has laid out its plan to significantly boost the country’s lithium production, opening up 26 lithium salt flats for private investment and naming the Atacama and Maricunga salt flats as strategic to the state.
The March 2024 monthly averages were published today based on the index values of March 1, 8, 15 and 22.
Recent developments in China’s pulp and paper industry, notably the divestment of the Anhui Huatai pulp mill, prompted a closer examination of the dynamics of swing pulp lines, particularly the delicate balance between dissolving wood pulp and paper grade wood pulp. The Anhui Huatai pulp mill, which suspended production in the first half of 2023, […]
The green steel supply chain is gradually starting up in Malaysia, largely due to stricter decarbonization-related government policies, sources said in the week to Monday March 25. One of these policies is a two-year moratorium on all expansion and diversification of manufacturing activities in the iron and steel industry