K-trio Posts Double-Digit or Even Higher Growth in Global[1] EV Battery Usage[2] From Jan to April in 2022
- Chinese battery makers enjoy high growth whereas LG Energy Solutions went through a temporary slowdown and SK-On experienced a soaring growth of 141.3%
In the ranking of battery installation for global electric vehicles (EV, PHEV, HEV) sold from January to April in 2022, CATL held down the top spot, leaving others far behind. LG Energy Solutions maintained the second position, and SK-On managed to be ranked 5th with the highest growth among the K-trio companies. With the Chinese makers continuously exhibiting a high growth, the Korea’s three battery makers also posted double-digit or higher growth.
From Jan to April in 2022, the amount of energy held by batteries for electric vehicles registered worldwide was 122.9GWh, increased by 83.4% compared to the same period of the last year. The uptrend starting in Q2 2020 seems to continue in the global market.
Invigorated from such a bullish market for electric vehicles in China, several Chinese battery manufacturers have led the market growth with CATL and BYD at the forefront. Most of Chinese makers have seen increases in their market shares; for instance, CALB, propped up with its continuous high growth earlier this year, ranked 6th in the global market, outperforming Samsung SDI.
Compared to them, the companies in Japan including Panasonic experienced a huge drop in their market share, exhibiting the growth rate mostly lower than the market average.
With regards to the K-trio companies, SK-On achieved a high growth of 141.3%, following the previous month’s outstanding performance. However, the overall market shares of K-trio have slightly declined as LG Energy Solutions and Samsung SDI marked a growth lower than the market average.
LG Energy Solutions ranked 2nd with 18.3GWh, a 19.1% increase compared to the same period of last year. SK-On marked a sweeping record of 8.6GWh, 2.4 times greater than before, and expanded its market share accordingly. Although Samsung SDI also had a 26.9% increase in market share, the overall market share of three Korean companies has dropped by 1.8%p.
The upward trend of the K-trio was driven by strong sales of electric vehicle models equipped with batteries of each company. In case of SK-On, the sales increase of Hyundai Ionic 5 and KIA EV6 have led to such a high growth for the battery company. Samsung SDI was mostly backed by the increasing sales of BMW i3 and iX, and PIAT 500. Meanwhile, in Europe and China, the sales volume of Tesla Model 3 equipped with batteries of LG Energy Solutions and CATL has plummeted in April. Against this backdrop, in terms of the battery usage in April 2022, LG Energy Solutions was outrun by BYD which has been maintaining solid sales in the Chinese market.
The global EV battery usage in April 2022 was 27.1GWh, more than 1.5 times higher than the same period of last year. Amid the major markets such as China, Europe, and the US all in an upward trend, it seems obvious that the bullish market was mostly led by the Chinese companies. Despite the extended COVID19 pandemic, the EV battery market has been in a steady uptrend over the past 22 months. Affected by the disruptions in Tesla factories due to the China lockdowns, CATL and LG Energy Solutions went through declines in their growth rate compared to the previous month, but they are expected to soon return to the trajectory they used to be in.
Even when the first quarter of 2022 has passed, the Chinese EV market has continued to be a bull market, adding more pressures from the Chinese companies to their global competitors. It should be closely monitored how the K-trio will weather through those pressures from the Chinese counterparts and maintain their global top 10 positions in coming months.