Top 5 global automakers by motor power deployed

From January through May 2024, the combined motor power rolled onto global roads in newly sold passenger EVs totaled 1.25 TW, a 29% increase from the same five months last year, according to data from Adamas Intelligence’s EV Motor Materials Monthly service.  

In the lead, Tesla deployed 173.8 GW of motor power onto roads globally, down 9% over the same period last year, allowing BYD to close the gap as the Chinese BEV and PHEV maker’s own motor power deployment rose 25% over the same period to 165.8 GW

Toyota took spot number three with 121.5 GW of motor power deployed, a 32.3% jump over the first five months of 2023. Li Auto, the PHEV specialist, which only launched its first BEV in Q1 of this year, placed fourth – a long distance behind Toyota – after deploying 51.0 GW, up 47% year-on-year.  

Rounding out the top 5 was BMW. The German luxury automaker, which uses electrically-excited synchronous motors (EESMs), increased the combined power of motor units deployed by 34% to 49.4 GWh through the first five months of this year.  

Deserving of a mention is AITO, which slots in at number six globally with 34.9 GW deployed this year. The fast-growing marque (a partnership between telecoms giant Huawei and Seres) has upped its motor power deployment by 665% so far in 2024. 

Through the first five months of the year, permanent magnet synchronous motors and permanent magnet assisted synchronous reluctance motors (collectively PMs) represented just shy of 89% of all motor power deployed onto roads worldwide, up nearly 1% over the same period last year.   

Induction motors made up 7% while EESMs captured just over 4% of the global market. Deployment of REE-free EESMs jumped 37% year-over-year, thanks largely to BMW’s strong performance during the five-month period versus more anemic rates of expansion for induction motors, which only delivered 13% more combined power to new EV owners compared to last year. 

Adamas take:

The EV motor market continues to show strong growth year-over-year growth despite perennial leader Tesla’s underperformance, outpacing both overall EV sales (up 22% year on year) and combined battery capacity deployment, which at 287.0 GWh for January through May, recorded a 24% increase, Adamas data shows.

Despite BEVs having substantially larger batteries than PHEVs, when it comes to average motor power, they are very comparable, translating into similar NdFeB magnet consumption per vehicle. With BEV sales growth slowing in 2024 and PHEV sales outperforming, NdFeB magnet demand has been largely unimpacted by the downside impacts facing battery materials like lithium, nickel and cobalt.

As larger and higher performance EVs, often equipped with multi-motor all-wheel drive systems, gain in popularity the EV motor market is expected to continue to outperform, boding well for NdFeB demand growth overall.