CATL top again in EV batteries in 2022: EV Volumes

Global unit sales of electric vehicles reached 10.54 million units in 2022, an increase of 55% from 2021, according to analyst firm EV Volumes.

And these EVs used 505GWh of batteries, the firm said, with the top five companies supplying 76% of the batteries used.

The top five EV battery suppliers were, in order of market share; CATL, LG Energy Solution, BYD, Panasonic, and SK On.

While nickel, cobalt, and manganese (NCM) batteries accounted for 70% total, more impressive was the 27% held by lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

LFP batteries only accounted for a single-digit percentage in 2019 but are being rapidly adopted in EVs.

Most noticeably, Tesla uses CATL’s LFP batteries for its Model 3 EVs.

In EV unit sales, BYD beat Tesla by selling 1.86 units thanks to strong performance in the Chinese market.

Tesla sold 1.31 million units; likely due to the halting of its Gigafactory in Shanghai.

Hyundai Motor meanwhile sold 510,000 units of EVs for the entire year.

Meanwhile, EV Volumes is forecasting that 14 million units of EVs will be sold this year.

North America, thanks largely due to the Inflation Reduction Act, is expected to show 71% year-on-year growth in unit sales.