Recently, data released by the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (hereinafter referred to as the “Alliance”) shows that in the first half of this year, the cumulative installed capacity of power batteries in China reached 203.3GWh, a year-on-year increase of 33.7%. The rapid growth in the installed capacity of power batteries reflects the rapid expansion of China’s new energy vehicle market and the shift in consumer preferences. At the same time, the sales and export volume of other batteries, including energy storage batteries, are also growing rapidly, and have become a new growth point for major battery companies.
Share of Battery Installed Capacity in Pure Electric Passenger Vehicles Shrinks
There is no doubt that behind the high growth in the installed capacity of power batteries is the rapid growth of new energy vehicles. Different from the slowdown in demand for new energy vehicles in Europe and the United States, in China, consumers still favor new energy vehicles.
Statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that in the first half of this year, China’s production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 4.929 million and 4.944 million respectively, a year-on-year increase of 30.1% and 32%, and the market share reached 35.2%. Especially in June, the market share of new energy vehicles was as high as 41.1%. By the end of June this year, the cumulative production and sales of domestic new energy vehicles had exceeded 30 million.
This naturally strongly drove the growth of the installed capacity of power batteries, especially the pursuit of lithium iron phosphate batteries. Alliance data shows that in the first half of this year, among the total installed capacity of power batteries in China, the cumulative installed capacity of ternary batteries was 62.3GWh, accounting for 30.63% of the total installed capacity, a year-on-year increase of 29.7%; the cumulative installed capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries was 141.0GWh, accounting for 69.32% of the total installed capacity, a year-on-year increase of 35.7%.
Since the subsidy for new energy vehicles has been phased out or even canceled, due to the safety and low-cost advantages of lithium iron phosphate batteries, in recent years, major leading enterprises have been deploying lithium iron phosphate batteries, making its market share catch up and quickly surpass that of ternary batteries. However, from the situation in the first half of this year, the phenomenon that the growth rate of the installed capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries was much higher than that of ternary batteries has gradually disappeared, and the growth rates of both are constantly approaching.
It is worth mentioning that in the first half of this year, China’s sodium-ion batteries and semi-solid batteries were installed in vehicles, and the competitive landscape of the power battery sector is still constantly changing. Among them, the installed capacity of semi-solid batteries in the first half of the year was 2154.7MWh, mainly from Weilan New Energy; the installed capacity of sodium-ion batteries was 1.5MWh, from Farasis Energy, CATL, and Zhongke Haina.
From the perspective of vehicle types, the top three types of new energy vehicles with the installed capacity of power batteries in the first half of the year were pure electric passenger vehicles, plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles, and pure electric special-purpose vehicles, accounting for 66.6%, 21.9%, and 10.4% respectively, totaling 98.9%. However, in terms of growth rate, the installed capacity of power batteries in pure electric passenger vehicles increased by 16.3% year-on-year, much lower than 88.8% of plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles and 116.4% of pure electric special-purpose vehicles. Moreover, the installed capacity of power batteries in pure electric passenger vehicles accounted for 76.55% in the first half of last year, and in just one year, its share has dropped by 10 percentage points. Judging from the current development trend, the market share of pure electric passenger vehicles is likely to continue to be “eaten up” by plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles and pure electric special-purpose vehicles in the future.
Concentration of Installed Capacity Slightly Declines
From the perspective of enterprises, in the first half of this year, a total of 50 power battery enterprises in China’s new energy vehicle market achieved vehicle installation and supporting. Among them, the installed capacity of the top 3, top 5, and top 10 power battery enterprises was 157.6GWh, 173.3GWh, and 195.3GWh respectively, accounting for 77.5%, 85.2%, and 96.1% of the total installed capacity.
By querying the data from previous years, it can be found that in 2020, the proportion of the installed capacity of the top 3, top 5, and top 10 power battery enterprises was 71.3%, 82.1%, and 91.8% respectively; in 2021, the above proportions were 74.2%, 83.4%, and 92.3% respectively; in 2022, the proportions were 78.2%, 85.3%, and 95% respectively; in 2023, they were 78.8%, 87.4%, and 96.8% respectively. Combined with the data from the first half of this year, it can be seen that after the concentration of the installed capacity of power battery enterprises rose to a relatively high level, it began to show a slight downward trend.
CATL still ranked first, with the installed capacity of power batteries reaching 93.31GWh in the first half of the year, accounting for 46.38%, an increase compared to the market share of 43.11% in 2023. The reason for this may be related to CATL’s continuous launch of new products, such as the Shenxing Super Charging Battery and the Shenxing PLUS Battery. Not long ago, CATL also released the commercial vehicle power battery brand – CATL Tianxing, and launched two products: “Tianxing Light Commercial Vehicle (L) – Super Charging Version” and “Tianxing Light Commercial Vehicle (L) – Long Range Version”. Obviously, CATL intends to continue to exert its strength in the field of commercial vehicles.
BYD ranked second, with the installed capacity of power batteries of 50.51GWh in the first half of the year, accounting for 25.1%, lower than the market share of 27.21% in 2023. Different from CATL, BYD’s power batteries are mainly supplied to its own vehicle models. With the continuous efforts of other new energy vehicle brands, the market share of BYD batteries was slightly impacted. China Innovation Aviation ranked third, with the installed capacity of power batteries of 13.83GWh in the first half of the year, accounting for 6.87%. The power battery enterprises ranked fourth to tenth are: EVE Energy, Guoxuan High-Tech, SVOLT Energy, Sunwoda, REPT Battery, Zhengli Xinneng, and LG Energy Solution.
It is worth mentioning that although CATL’s total market share is 21 percentage points higher than that of BYD, in the installed capacity of plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles, CATL accounts for 38.5%, and BYD accounts for 30.35%, with only an 8-percentage-point difference, which shows from one side that BYD’s plug-in hybrid vehicles have strong market competitiveness.
Top 10 Domestic Power Battery Enterprises by Installed Capacity in the First Half of 2024
| Rank | Enterprise Name | Installed Capacity (GWh) | Proportion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CATL | 93.31 | 46.38% |
| 2 | BYD | 50.51 | 25.10% |
| 3 | China Innovation Aviation | 13.83 | 6.87% |
| 4 | EVE Energy | 8.47 | 4.21% |
| 5 | Guoxuan High-Tech | 7.17 | 3.56% |
| 6 | SVOLT Energy | 6.15 | 3.06% |
| 7 | Sunwoda | 5.95 | 2.96% |
| 8 | REPT Battery | 3.74 | 1.86% |
| 9 | VoltCoffer | 3.24 | 1.61% |
| 10 | LG Energy Solution | 2.96 | 1.47% |
Note: For multiple battery enterprises supporting the same vehicle model, the average value is adopted for calculation, and for the swap battery model, the maximum stored power is selected for calculation; excluding semi-solid batteries, sodium-ion batteries, etc.
Energy Storage Batteries Become a New “Growth Pole”
Since June last year, the Alliance has added relevant data on energy storage batteries, and later removed the word “energy storage” and changed it to “other batteries”, among which energy storage batteries still play an important role. According to the Alliance’s statistics, in the first half of this year, the cumulative sales of power batteries and other batteries in China reached 402.6GWh, a year-on-year increase of 40.3%. Among them, the cumulative sales of power batteries was 318.1GWh, a year-on-year increase of 26.6%; the cumulative sales of other batteries was 84.5GWh, a year-on-year increase of 137.3%. The proportions of power batteries and other batteries in sales were 79% and 21% respectively. Compared with the same period last year, the proportion of power batteries decreased by 1.2 percentage points.
Among other batteries, energy storage batteries occupy an important position. For major battery manufacturers such as CATL, energy storage batteries have become the second growth pole, showing a trend of “power + energy storage” running in parallel on both tracks. The financial report data disclosed by each enterprise fully proves this point. For example, in 2023, the proportion of the energy storage battery sector in CATL’s total revenue was close to 15%, the proportion of the energy storage battery sector in EVE Energy’s total revenue was 33.5%, and the proportion of Guoxuan High-Tech’s energy storage battery was 21.93%.
In addition to supplying the domestic market, the export volume of power batteries and other batteries is also rising rapidly. In the first half of this year, the cumulative export of power batteries and other batteries in China reached 73.7GWh, a year-on-year increase of 18.6%, and the export volume accounted for 18.3% of the sales in the first half of the year. Among them, the export of power batteries was 60GWh, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%; the export of other batteries was 13.6GWh, a year-on-year increase of 106.7%. It can be seen that at present, the export scale of power batteries is larger, but the export growth rate of other batteries is higher. In recent months, many lithium battery enterprises, including EVE Energy, CATL, Guoxuan High-Tech, REPT Battery, etc., have signed large orders for overseas energy storage batteries, and the overseas energy storage market has increasingly become a “must-compete” place for Chinese lithium battery enterprises.
Sales and Export of Power Batteries and Other Batteries in the First Half of 2024 Unit: GWh
| Sales | Year-on-year Sales Growth | Sales Proportion | Export | Year-on-year Export Growth | Export Proportion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Batteries | 318.1 | 26.6% | 79.0% | 60.0 | 8.2% | 81.5% |
| Other Batteries | 84.5 | 137.3% | 21.0% | 13.6 | 106.7% | 18.5% |
| Total | 402.6 | 40.3% | 100% | 73.7 | 18.6% | 100% |