Top 5 EV cell suppliers in Europe in 2023

South Korean cell suppliers captured 68% of the market

In 2023, a record 156.2 GWh were deployed onto roads in Europe in the batteries of all newly sold passenger EVs combined, a 32% increase over 2022. 

By comparison, battery capacity deployment in Asia Pacific jumped 40% year-over-year to 405.6 GWh while that of the Americas leapt 49% over the same period to 117.0 GWh. 

LG Energy Solution (LGES) led the pack by a wide margin in Europe with 74.9 GWh deployed onto roads last year, up 26% compared to 2022 affording the Korean battery maker a 48% market share (down from 50% in 2022).  

LGES supplies cells to a variety of models that found buyers in Europe last year including the Tesla Model Y, Skoda Enyaq and Volkswagen’s ID.4, among others.  

Closing in on LGES in second spot was Contemporary Amperex Technology Co, better known as CATL, with 32.6 GWh deployed on the continent last year, up 36% from the year prior.  

CATL captured 21% of the region last year, up from an even fifth the year before. Cell packs powering Tesla’s Model 3 sported 12% of the capacity CATL supplied to the European market, followed by the MG 4 and Peugeot e-208.  

Taking the third spot was Samsung SDI, which deployed 19.5 GWh onto Europe’s roads in 2023, up 35% year on year to capture 12% of the market, unchanged from 2022. Samsung SDI batteries power the popular BMW BEVs and PHEVs (i4, iX, etc) which together accounted for 52% of the Korean manufacturer’s giga-business in Europe last year.

SK On came in at number four with 12.5 GWh deployed in 2023, a modest increase of 13% year on year. In 2023, SK On captured 8% of the European market, down from 9% in 2022. Hyundai and Kia BEVs and PHEVs (including the Ioniq 5 and EV6) drove 52% of SK On battery deployment in the region. 

In a distant fifth place is Panasonic, a long-standing supplier to Tesla and Toyota, with deployment of 4.6 GWh in Europe last year, an 82% jump compared to 2022. In 2023 Panasonic captured 3% of the European market, up from 2% in 2022.  

Panasonic is the leading cell supplier in the Americas, thanks largely to the Model 3 and Model Y that sport its wares, but in Europe Tesla does not fit its bestselling Model 3 and Model Y workhorses with cells supplied by the Japanese company. 

Adamas take:

Together, the top five cell suppliers in Europe cornered over 92% of the region’s market in 2023, only marginally down from the year before.  

The concentration at the top is equally noticeable in the Americas and Asia Pacific where the regional top five supplied 87% of all GWhs deployed onto roads last year in both regions, more evidence that economies of scale in the global EV battery business is a massive competitive advantage.