The global EV battery sales soared 54 per cent in the first half of this year to reach over 300 gigawatt (GWh), a new report showed on Wednesday.Chinese battery player CATL led the EV battery market, with BYD and LG Energy Solutions trailing by some distance.

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Chinese battery suppliers held nearly two-thirds of the EV battery market as Tesla, BYD and Volkswagen installed nearly 45 per cent of total EV batteries in H1 2023, according to Counterpoint Research.

During this period, global EV sales also experienced a substantial 43 per cent (year-on-year) growth. "Over the next few years, numerous new battery suppliers, such as ACC, Verkor, Northvolt and E4V, are expected to secure a substantial presence within the battery supply chain," said senior analyst Soumen Mandal.

Apart from specialist battery suppliers, automakers such as Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis are also working on in-house cell and pack manufacturing, which will make the battery supply chain even more competitive, Mandal added. 

Currently, Chinese and South Korean suppliers dominate the industry.Chinese companies like CATL, BYD, CALB, Gotion, Sunwoda and Farasis collectively hold two-thirds of the market, while the three major South Korean players - LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation – account for around 25 per cent market share.

The surging sales of Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y have played a pivotal role in driving the growth of CATL and LG Energy Solutions. 

CATL supplies batteries for the standard versions of the Model 3 and Model Y manufactured at Tesla's Shanghai factory, while LG Energy Solutions serves as the primary battery supplier for the performance versions of the Model 3 and Model Y.

On the other hand, Hyundai, Kia and Ford's EVs have played an active role in boosting the market share of SK Innovation, while Rivian and BMW predominantly rely on Samsung SDI as their battery supplier.

"In H1 2023, the average battery capacity of EVs stood at 50kWh. Consequently, we expect that the total EV-driven battery demand will reach 4TWh in 2030," said research vice president Peter Richardson.

The increasing demand for batteries, coupled with geopolitical tensions, is exerting upward pressure on the prices of lithium, a primary component of EV batteries.

"As an alternative, battery suppliers are looking for different chemistries like sodium-ion (NA-ion) that could drive down the cost of batteries and make EVs more affordable."

"CATL has already achieved a breakthrough in sodium-ion battery chemistry, and we expect to see the mass adoption of such batteries very soon," Richardson added.