LFP market share outside Asia hits double digits 

Penetration of EVs equipped with LFP batteries outside the Asia Pacific region hit 10% year to date after a 48% jump in capacity deployed compared to 2023.  

From a near-standing start in 2020, lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP) now command more than half the Chinese market.  

This year through May, the combined battery capacity of newly sold LFP-powered passenger vehicles in China totaled 93.0 GWh.  

That compares to just 11.6 GWh of fresh LFP deployed over the same period in the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa, combined, a rise of 48% year-over-year for 10% share of the market.  

Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y make up the bulk of the LFP vehicles roaming the four continents and in the largest market across the regions, the US, the two workhorses constitute 71% of the market.  

The rest of the 2.6 GWh market for LFP in the US this year is shared between Rivian’s delivery vehicles supplied, to Amazon, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E. 

CATL provides cells for Tesla from its Shanghai factory from where LFP-powered versions of the Model 3 and Y are exported to Europe and elsewhere. The LFP-powered Model Y currently occupies the top spot in China by battery capacity deployed. 

Tesla is also reported to be setting up a small LFP facility near its Nevada gigafactory in partnership with CATL, the world’s number one EV cell supplier. 

In Brazil, the number two country across the Americas, and EMEA, BYD is the dominant player for LFP installations.  

BYD’s model lineup is all-LFP and the Chinese automaker’s runaway success in Brazil has translated into a 71% market share for the cathode chemistry inside the country.  

Overall, battery capacity deployed from January through May 2024 in the South American nation has more than tripled compared to the same period last year and now tops 1 GWh.  

Outside Asia, the UK is placed third with 0.9 GWh of LFP propelled EVs sold this year, followed by France with 0.8 GWh and in fifth Israel, where the cathode chemistry added 0.7 GWh of battery power to the Middle Eastern country’s roads this year, capturing 38% of the market in the process.

Adamas take: 

The steady stream of announcements about delays, cancellations or downscaling of new battery factories in Europe and the US, notably Ford’s deep cut to planned capacity at its Michigan plant, will see the rate of LFP adoption outside Asia remain low.

As the Brazilian and, to a lesser extent, Israeli market shows, a rapid move away from nickel, cobalt and manganese cathodes is a function of Chinese exports of excess capacity in the absence of trade barriers.  

With over 100% duties on Chinese EV imports into the US, less draconian measures in the EU and tariffs under consideration in Canada and the UK, governments in the West want to stop an LFP invasion before it starts.