As expected, the price of EV battery cells continues to fall in China.
Let’s take a look to the average price of EV (Electric Vehicle) and ESS (Energy Storage System) battery cells in China.
EV battery cells (July 2024)
- LFP (prismatic): 52 euros per kWh
- NCM 523 (prismatic): 61 euros per kWh
- NCM 523 (pouch): 64 euros per kWh
ESS battery cells (July 2024)
- LFP (prismatic): 49 euros per kWh
The EV battery cells are optimized for energy and power density, while ESS are mostly about cost, that’s why they are a bit cheaper.
Anyway, a good 60 kWh CTP (cell to pack) battery costs around 3.500 euros (assembled cells in a case with TMS and BMS). So I ask kindly, dear carmakers stop overpricing EVs!
Since the introduction of module-less LFP battery packs there’s no reason why electric cars can’t compete with ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cars on price and actually win.
Moreover, with a decent public charging infrastructure and batteries that allow higher C-rates, electric cars actually don’t need big and heavy batteries to please most people.
This is what we can have with today’s best battery technology:
Small electric car specs:
- Motor: 80 kW
- LFP battery capacity: 40 kWh
- Battery cycle life: 3.500 cycles (80 % of EOL)
- Fast charging (120 kW): half in 10 minutes (from 20 to 70 %), or full in 20 minutes (3 C-rated battery)
- WLTP range: 340 km
- Price: 10.000 euros
Medium electric car specs:
- Motor: 120 kW
- LFP battery capacity: 50 kWh
- Battery cycle life: 3.500 cycles (80 % of EOL)
- Fast charging (200 kW): half in 8 minutes (from 20 to 70 %), or full in 15 minutes (4 C-rated battery)
- WLTP range: 400 km
- Price: 15.000 euros
Large electric car specs:
- Motor: 200 kW
- LFP battery capacity: 60 kWh
- Battery cycle life: 3.500 cycles (80 % of EOL)
- Fast charging (300 kW): half in 6 minutes (from 20 to 70 %), or full in 12 minutes (5 C-rated battery)
- WLTP range: 420 km
- Price: 20.000 euros
Power is cheap when electric, helps with efficiency and regenerative braking. There’s no reason to under power electric cars.
Summing up, legacy carmakers are overpricing electric cars to delay the transition to clean transportation and keep the status quo. I always find intriguing that some EV advocates ask for government subsidies to buy electric cars, without realizing they are being scammed by corporations. Moreover, subsidizing private products is always counter productive, because it removes the incentive to lower prices. What we need is to make polluting cars harder to sell, with higher taxes on sales and on fossil fuels.
Only when polluting cars become extremely hard to sell, will legacy carmakers finally embrace electric cars, because it’s better to sell them with a fair price than nothing at all.
More info:
https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20240806-12242.html
