Top 5 EV makes by nickel consumption in Asia Pacific

PHEV specialist Li Auto leads   

In January 2024, 9,918 tonnes of nickel were deployed onto roads in all newly sold electrified vehicles in the Asia Pacific region, up 93% from January the year prior when Chinese EV sales were suppressed by the Lunar New Year holiday, which this year falls in February.

However, despite roaring EV sales growth in the region in January, Asia Pacific was responsible for just 46% of global EV battery nickel consumption during the month, speaking to the popularity of nickel-free LFP cells in the Chinese market.

By OEM, Li Auto led the pack in the Asia Pacific region with 822 tonnes of nickel deployed onto roads in January 2024, up 91% over the same month the year prior for the plug-in hybrid specialist.

In second spot, Toyota deployed 770 tonnes of nickel onto roads in the Asia Pacific region in January, 11% less than the same month the year prior.

In third, the fast-growing AITO marque (a partnership between Huawei and Seres) deployed 600 tonnes of nickel onto roads in the region in January 2024, up more than 10-times over the same month the year prior thanks almost entirely to its popular M7 EREV model.

In fourth, Tesla deployed 575 tonnes of nickel onto roads in the Asia Pacific region in January in its S, 3, X, Y models, while in a close fifth place, BMW deployed 555 tonnes, up 60% from January the year prior.

Adamas take:

While Toyota was the only OEM among the top 10 to record a year-over-year drop in nickel deployment, the fact that the Japanese giant still captured second spot is notable given that 93% of its EV sales in January were conventional HEVs with inherently small battery packs.

Adamas data shows that HEVs remain a significant source of EV battery nickel demand stemming from widespread use of both nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) and nickel-containing Li-ion batteries.