Manganese contained in average EV battery sinks by 18%

Manganese deployment in all EVs combined increased 5% globally over the first four months of this year to 22.3 kilotonnes compared to the same months in 2024, but manganese use in the average passenger EV battery continues to show steep declines.

Average manganese mass in passenger EV batteries, including plug-in and conventional hybrids, was down sharply at 18% year-over-year from January through April to 2.7 kilograms.

By EV type, the average BEV’s manganese loading dropped by 21% year-over-year during the first four months of 2025 to 4.2 kilograms. Over the same period, the average PHEV’s manganese content fell by a noticeable 24% to 2.4 kg and that of the average HEV declined slightly.

Much of the lost ground for manganese can be ascribed to the massive adoption of LFP batteries, particularly in Asia where average manganese loadings dropped by 31% year on year, compared to a 5% decrease in the Americas and a 3% rise in Europe.

The move to high-nickel batteries with reduced manganese and cobalt content is also playing a role. The top NCM cathode in terms of manganese deployed year to date has a ~5:2:3 split of these metals and was responsible for 47% of the overall market during the period, but deployment sank 6% year on year. 

While Chinese automakers still rely on the NCM 5-Series for many of their mid-tier offerings and the chemistry is also the top contributor to manganese deployment in Europe, in the Americas where high-nickel batteries are dominant NCM 5-Series represent only 12% of the total.  

An encouraging observation for manganese suppliers is the rapid rise of NCMA batteries deployed by Ultium Cells, a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution.

Ultium’s combined manganese deployment surged by 262% year over year to 252 tonnes from January through April this year and now represents 8% of the total manganese deployment in the Americas.

Ultium manufactures NCMA batteries in Ohio fitted to, among others, the Cadillac Lyriq, the massive GMC Hummer SUV and the Chevrolet Equinox, a mid-market offering introduced last year to great success.

GM also builds the Honda Prologue in Mexico on behalf of the Japanese carmaker and together with the Equinox, the two mid-size SUVs contributed 35% of the battery maker’s manganese deployment in the region.

Globally NCMA is responsible for 2% of global manganese deployment after a 384% jump year over year.

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