EV battery nickel deployment in Asia Pacific falls for the first time

The batteries of EVs, including plug-in and conventional hybrids, sold over the first nine months of the year contained 257.7 kt of nickel, up 13% from January-September 2024, after a record-breaking third quarter.

However, nickel deployment growth for the period fell well short of overall battery capacity deployed which totaled 759.0 GWh, a 26% expansion, and new EV registrations which rose by 24% to 20.8 million. 

Over January-September 2025, nickel deployment across Asia Pacific fell for the first time, declining by 1% to 97.0 kt setting up the region for its first ever down year. Even in calendar 2020 during the height of the pandemic, Asia Pacific recorded year-on-year percentage growth of nearly 10% in nickel deployed. Despite the slight fallback this year, the region nevertheless accounted for a full 38% of the global total, although that is down from 43% last year.

The underperformance was mostly the result of Chinese automakers’ ongoing preference for LFP batteries, which, given the size of the nation’s industry, has global effects. Made-in-China EVs sold this year represent 64% of the combined battery capacity that hit roads for the first time and LFP penetration inside the country has climbed to 70% in GWh terms. 

The lingering use of mid-nickel NCM chemistries has also played a role, and NCM 5-Series packs (roughly 50% nickel content) account for nearly half of Chinese automakers’ nickel consumption.

For nickel suppliers to the EV industry, the environment in Europe and the Americas is much cheerier.

Total nickel in the cell packs of newly sold EVs in the Americas, mostly in the US and Canada, jumped by 16% to 73.2 kt and in Europe by an eye-catching 28% to 80.3 kt from January through September.

On the European market, LFP constituted 11% on a GWh basis in and by the same measure, penetration in the Americas was just over 10%.

While LFP is steadily eating into the market in the Americas and Europe, high-nickel batteries still reign supreme, with high-nickel NCM, NCMA and NCA packs accounting for 84% and 71% respectively of the GWh rolled onto roads so far in 2025.  

As cathode chemistries continue to divide China and the rest of the world, the sales-weighted average nickel contained in EVs of all types sold in the Asia Pacific region was down to a meager 7.5 kg after falling by 21% compared to the first nine months of 2024.

In the Americas, as Chinese exports make inroads in markets such as Brazil and Mexico, average nickel content also fell, down 6% to 22.1 kg. In Europe the average is now 19.2 kg, a 7% increase over last year. 

Nickel deployment in Western markets was also boosted by HEV buyers. These minimally electrified vehicles only play a tiny part in Chinese automakers’ EV fleets.

Chinese consumer preferences skew to full electric, plug-in hybrids and range extenders and HEVs constituted only 16% of new registrations this year. That compares to 33% across Europe and the Americas. 

Conventional hybrids, which are predominantly fitted with nickel metal hydride batteries and a growing proportion of other nickeliferous packs, made up for their size through volume.  

HEVs were responsible for 9% of global nickel deployment January through September 2025 at an average of 4.3 kg per vehicle. 

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