Sales weighted average battery capacity by cathode chemistry
Calendar 2024 was a record-breaking year for the global electric vehicle industry. In total, 865.5 GWh was added to the electric car parc, an expansion of 171.8 GWh or 25% compared to the year before. EVs sold last year fitted with LFP packs added an eye-catching 342.2 GWh to the global EV parc, a 54%...
Calendar 2024 was a record-breaking year for the global electric vehicle industry. In total, 865.5 GWh was added to the electric car parc, an expansion of 171.8 GWh or 25% compared to the year before.
EVs sold last year fitted with LFP packs added an eye-catching 342.2 GWh to the global EV parc, a 54% jump over the year before. LFP cathodes now command 40% of the market in GWh terms, up from 32% in 2023.
The average EV fitted with an LFP pack had a battery capacity of 38.9 kWh in 2024, a 1% decline compared to the average for 2023. While the data is skewed somewhat by BYD, which now relies on PHEVs (with inherently smaller batteries) for the bulk of its sales, the sub-40 kWh average is noticeably lower than most nickel-rich cathode chemistries.
EVs fitted with mid-nickel cathodes (NCM 5-Series), which remain a popular choice in China for more premium offerings, expand in size to average 44.7 kWh. On a GWh deployed basis more than 80% of EVs manufactured in China and sold worldwide last year were fitted with either LFP or NCM 5-Series batteries.
For NCM 8-Series, which represented 26% of the global market by battery capacity deployed last year, there is a significant step up to 75.0 kWh, after 6% year-on-year growth in the average size. NCA Gen 3 batteries in the average EV bulk up further at 84.6 kWh.
The low and declining sales weighted average capacity per EV powered by NCM 6-Series batteries – down 16% to 30.1 kWh – is explained by the fact that a full two-thirds of EVs packing this cathode chemistry sold last year were PHEVs.
NCM 6-Series pack sizes are also much smaller than its higher nickel content sibling NCM 7-Series which average 72.9 kWh thanks to across-the-board BEV installation. Total NCM 6-Series battery capacity deployment last year was 54.6 GWh while NCM 7-Series came in at 49.6 GWh.
While not in the top 5 chemistries globally based on 2024 battery capacity deployment, NCMA packs stand out at an average of 112.2 kWh per EV. NCMA packs saw deployment surge nine-fold year over year to 20.0 GWh.
Contact the Adamas team to learn more or check out the intelligence services below.
