Lithium ion battery prices <thread>

The way you will see governments and OEM’s position themselves well under $100/kwh is by using averages of all different chemistries

Since as long as I can remember, battery cell prices were always based on NCM chemistry...
The battery cell prices we have always collected at @benchmarkmin NCM chemistry - this is the standard.

The tend is below: a healthy drop since 2014 of ~15% compounded. But the rate of decrease slowing significantly since 2017 to now

https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/membership/benchmark-analysis-lithium-ion-battery-cell-prices-close-in-on-100-kwh-come-of-ev-age-but-is-this-the-end-for-double-digit-declines/
VW, Tesla et al will decrease the cost of battery cells to late $50/kwh, $60s and $70s by blending in the much cheaper LFP chemistry to make a “company wide average”

This of course isn’t innovation but clever marketing.
Real innovation needs all NCM chemistries, especially high nickel >811, and NCA to target $80-90/kwh long term.

With 70-80% of the cost of a lithium ion battery cell being raw materials today, this means *guaranteeing* a long term steady supply of low cost raw materials...
Until the last 8 months, LFP was never a part of the non China EV equation. It makes complete sense for a lower cost, lower range EV strategy for all automakers

But blending this naturally lower cost battery with the higher cost NCM / NCA isn’t innovation...
Innovation in dropping battery cell cost comes from real changes in:

✅ battery manufacturing (Gigafactory scale, new formats Tesla’s 4680)

✅chemistry (to up energy density)

✅raw material prices / contracts which we help with at @benchmarkmin https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/contact 
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