One thing that defines the human race is the need to make things better. Nowhere has this become more apparent than in the motor vehicle industry. After decades of relying on fossil fuels to power vehicles and industry in general, manufacturers have been turning to electric power to propel the motor vehicle industry into the future.
For this to happen, batteries have to be built to store power, and there have to be companies that build them. Who are these electric car battery manufacturers?
Here are the best 5 manufactures for electric car battery:
1. Tesla GigaFactory
2. Contemporary Amperex Technology company
3. Panasonic
4. OptimumNano Energy Company
5. LG Chem
Well, the beauty of capitalism means that not one company could ever have a true monopoly on production. A lot of companies and joint ventures have been formed over the past two decades to meet the demands of this new trend.
Different companies are now relying on different technologies to achieve this vision. Since not one specific technology has been proven to be better than the rest, different companies have chosen to go in different directions in order to meet their goals. As this is still a budding industry, a handful of companies have come into existence but more are still springing up.
Find Out More about These 5 Electric Car Battery Companies
1. Tesla GigaFactory
It would be a travesty to suggest that there could be anyone else ahead of the entrepreneur extraordinaire that is Elon Musk. In order to meet demand on the much-vaunted Tesla electric vehicles, Tesla decided to manufacture their own batteries.
The Tesla Gigafactory is a behemoth in this sector. At 23 giga watt hours (GWh) in battery capacity, the factory produced 1 GWh shy of double the amount of the closest competitor. And they’re not stopping there. Their aim s to produce up to 20 times more battery capacity by the year 2030.
This is mainly due to their plan to add more vehicle models to their lineup, as well as ramp up production of existing vehicles to reduce waiting times for customers.
The current GigaFactory is still under construction, and there are still more under construction in different parts of the world, the other most famous being in Shanghai, China. This is because the electric vehicle market is also growing, even though it is the second largest market after the United States.
This move aims to take advantage of economies of scale concepts. More battery production will make the Tesla line of vehicles affordable to a wide range of people.
2. Contemporary Amperex Technology company
As much as it would be a travesty not to include Tesla, it would be an even bigger one to ignore the efforts that Chinese companies have put into the industry and becoming giants in it. Contemporary was founded in 2011 with a focus on producing lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles and power backup systems.
Aside from the two industries, CATL is also a leader in research and development of energy storage systems, as well as being a developer of battery management systems. The company is headquartered in Hingde, Fujian Province but operates three research centers in different locations.
The annual storage capacity that CATL ships amounted to 12 GWh in 2017, putting it second to Tesla GigaFactory. However, in terms shipment, CATL far outstrips every other manufacturer. This is because CATL is the largest provider of batteries that power electric vehicles, hybrids and plug in hybrids.
Like Tesla, CATL hopes to increase capacity as demand rises. Their plan is to achieve 50 GWh of storage capacity by the year 2050. To start off, the company is building a new factory in Germany, with a focus on supplying European vehicle assembly companies.
3. Panasonic
If you are a fan of pop culture, an avid audiophile or general electronics fan, you will recognize Panasonic for the wide range of appliances that they manufacture. Even though they may not be everyone’s go to brand, they still managed to work hard behind the scenes to get a share of the electric vehicle battery pie.
At the moment, Tesla cannot manufacture enough batteries to meet demand for its vehicles. Panasonic is one of the companies that builds and sells a large majority of its batteries to Tesla.
The branch that is responsible for the batteries, the European Automotive Battery Business Division was set up in 2006 as a joint venture with Volkswagen. The aim of the partnership was to develop and eventually build drivetrains with Panasonic batteries at the heart of the systems.
As a result of the combined business, Panasonic is the third largest producer of batteries, with a storage capacity of 10GWh. In terms of shipment by volume, Panasonic comes second the CATL. Their batteries have mostly been used to power electric vehicles, hybrids as well as plug in hybrids.
If you’ve been following electronic vehicle news, you may have come across news that Panasonic and Toyota are planning to form a joint venture. I smell stiff competition coming Tesla’s way in the near future.
4. OptimumNano Energy Company
China is the largest manufacturing hub worldwide. The conditions present in China, as well as government policy, have been conducive to the growth of businesses that revolve around manufacturing. Optimum Nano is one of those companies.
This company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Pingshan district in Shenzhen. Like the three other companies before, OptimumNano also specializes in manufacturing lithium ion but also maintains a significant focus on the lithium iron phosphate batteries.
OptimumNano is the fourth largest manufacture of vehicle batteries. Similar to the three before it, OptimumNano also focuses on manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles, hybrids and plug in hybrids. The focus of this company has been to manufacture batteries for the general public, whilst still fulfilling orders for car manufacturers.
The company manufactured batteries with a combined storage capacity of 5.5 GWh in the year 2018. This places it squarely in fourth. Curiously, the same is also true when looking at the rankings in terms of how much individual units were shipped. Third place goes to another Chinese battery maker, BYD.
5. LG Chem
The fifth entry comes from a different nation, another of the Asian Tigers, South Korea. The name LG invokes images of household appliances or Android devices that fulfill needs that we didn’t know we had. Even so, one division of LG Corp is the largest chemical company in South Korea, and the 10th largest worldwide in terms of sales.
LG Chem has interests in three different fields, but the one of interested here is the energy solutions field. LG began manufacturing lithium ion batteries way back in 1999. It is now the fifth largest producer in terms of battery capacity produced. By 2017, the figure stood at 4.5 GWh.
In 2013, LG Chem made a move that stated its intent to dominate the American market. It opened a plant in Michigan that allowed it to manufacture batteries and provide to US automakers. LG Chem Michigan, as it is known, produces battery packs for the Chevy Volt, Chevy Spark, Chevy Bolt and also the Ford Focus Electric.
Aside from the Michigan and Korean plants, LG Chem has plans to add another factory in the US. The aim of the plant is to produce battery packs to power 250,000 new cars every year by the year 2050.
Related Questions
1. Why is it that Tesla GigaFactories are the Known as the Largest Producer Yet They Don’t Ship Many Units?
Well, the answer is pretty simple. There are quite a number of electric vehicle manufacturers worldwide. However, when it comes to putting storage capacity in their cars, they slack behind Tesla. Most of the cars have an installed capacity of 45 Kilowatt hours or less. The Tesla Model S 60 is rated at 60 Kilowatt hours while the Tesla Model S 85 is at 90 Kilowatt hours.
So, when looking at the statistics in terms of power storage capacity, the other manufacturers do not come close to Tesla. However, when looking at those statistics in terms of individual units moved, then the story changes.
2. Who Are the Largest Manufacturers by Volume then?
CATL comes to the fore as the leading manufacturer in terms of units sold. The Chinese company founded in 2011 rose to the top of the stack as a result of supplying batteries to automakers to satisfy the local market, namely the BAIC corporation, which is the largest EV maker in China, and the Yutong bus company, the largest bus maker in China.
But they did not stop there.
Their partnerships with automakers such as Volkswagen and BMW mean that they supply batteries to the second and third largest electric vehicle manufacturers outside of China. And they’re not stopping there.
CATL hopes to use funds from an IPO to raise the stakes. And they are already making moves. Job invites posted online targeting the Detroit area could symbolize that they are looking to start something manufacturing in the area.
It also is expanding internationally. The company acquired a Finnish company, Valmet Automotive, who are contracted manufacturers for Mercedes Benz, but also supply Porsche and Lamborghini.
