Graphite consumption outside China: Top 5 EV makes
In January and February 2025 combined, EV battery graphite deployment amounted to 116.4 kilotonnes worldwide. This is a 35% increase from the same period in 2024, when the total was 86.2 kt.
When excluding all EVs manufactured in China and sold locally or exported, and all domestic sales including imports from other countries, graphite deployment over the first two months of the year falls significantly.
Outside China graphite rolled onto roads in newly sold EVs, including plug-in and conventional hybrids, comes to 41.3 kt – another illustration of just how outsized China’s role in the EV global market is.
Tesla is the clear driver of graphite deployment outside China even when excluding exports from its Shanghai factory to Europe and North America or its Chinese tireprint (the Model Y was the most popular BEV in China last year).
The anode material contained in the EV batteries of the Model S,3,X and Y, and the Cybertruck totaled 7.3kt in January-February, up less than 2% year over year.
Volkswagen, which also has a significant manufacturing and retail base in China through local partnerships with SAIC and FAW, was a distant second. However, the German company is fast closing the gap as Tesla falters, particularly in Europe. Wolfsburg deployed 3.8 kt of graphite, an eye-catching 141% jump over 2025.
Ex-China, the third, fourth, and fifth largest consumers this year to-date – BMW, Mercedes and Ford – were wheel to wheel in January-February. BMW deployed 2.4 kt, an increase of 18% compared to the same months in 2024, Mercedes suffered a 6% decline to 2.3 kt while EVs with a Ford badge in total deployed 2.2 kt, 44% more than last year.
BMW, Mercedes and Ford also operate manufacturing joint ventures in China, and the luxury German marques rely on buyers in China for the bulk of their vehicle sales outside their home market. In 2023, Ford and Changan established Changan Ford NEV, in which the US automaker holds a 30% stake.
Chinese permits, US tariffs
Graphite is used as an anode material in virtually all BEV and PHEV batteries currently on the market, and most cell manufacturers use a combination of natural and synthetic graphite. China is home to some 90% of global anode manufacturing capacity.
China, also the world’s top graphite producer and exporter by a country mile, in December 2023 implemented permit requirements for exports of some types of natural and synthetic forms of graphite. Beijing followed up a year later by further tightening exports with red tape but stopped short of a ban.
The US imposed a 25% tariff on Chinese graphite under Section 301 in June 2024, but with exemptions added and taken away almost weekly under Trump’s separate reciprocal tariffs (currently at 145% on all imports from the country) it is near impossible to predict exactly what the situation would be months from now.
An additional US levy of 25% on the anode material is set to go into effect on January 1, 2026. The American Active Anode Material Producers (AAAMP) has proposed tariffs as high as 920% on Chinese graphite due to what the coalition calls China’s dumping of material below fair value.
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