Chinese EV battery producers will exceed domestic electric-car makers’ demand threefold in 2025: report

EV battery makers will increase capacity six times between this year and 2025, according to a report in a newspaper run by the State Council

After aggressive expansion, EV battery producers must secure more business from overseas carmakers to absorb the excess capacity, analysts say

Reading Time:2 minutes

A worker checks car batteries at a factory for Xinwangda Electric Vehicle Battery in Nanjing, China, on March 12, 2021. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:00pm, 27 Nov 2022Updated: 8:49am, 28 Nov 2022

China’s fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) battery industry must look abroad for customers as their capacity after a period of aggressive expansion will soon be three times greater than demand from domestic electric-car makers.

Mainland manufacturers will produce an estimated 3,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of EV batteries in 2025, according to a report by the Economic Daily, a newspaper run by the State Council.

That is six times this year’s expected output of 500 GWh, and three times the expected 2025 demand from domestic electric-car makers. The capacity estimate is based on expansion plans unveiled by the major battery producers, Economic Daily said.

“The good news is that China’s EV industry has overcome the bottleneck that once hindered its growth,” said Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based EV news site CnEVpost. “But the battery companies may need to look beyond the domestic market to get their demand digested now that China is already a leader in battery technology.”

Vehicles maneuver in traffic in Beijing on August 9, 2022. Domestic EV makers will need only one-third of the EV batteries produced by domestic battery makers in 2025, according to a report in a newspaper run by the State Council. Photo: EPA-EFE

In 2022, mainland drivers will buy 6 million battery-powered vehicles, more than double last year’s 2.99 million, according to a UBS forecast.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x