Global demand for EV batteries is projected to grow from approximately 747 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2020 to 2,492 gigawatt hours by 2025. In the U.S. EV cell manufacturing is expected to grow to 224 GWh of lithium battery cell manufacturing capability by 2025, (The Whitehouse, 100-day Review Report, 2021).

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, automotive manufacturing in the U.S. provides roughly $1.1 trillion of revenue per year into the U.S. economy. Not including Tesla, who is the benchmark in the auto EV industry, traditional auto manufacturers are investing billions of dollars in order to transition into the EV market and have committed to EV sales targets of at least 40% to 50% of total vehicle sales by 2030. 

In order for the U.S. to be competitive, to be self-sufficient in the global EV market and to have sufficient stockpile of critical battery metals for defense technology, the U.S. must build local battery manufacturing capability and battery recycling capacity, including its workforce.  The U.S. Department of Energy’s battery supply chain assessment found that currently the U.S. has less than a 10% global market share for manufacturing capacity across all major battery components and cell fabrication. Today, the U.S. relies heavily on importing advanced battery components from abroad, exposing the nation to supply chain vulnerabilities that threaten to disrupt the availability and cost of these technologies, as well as the workforce that manufactures them. 

China currently maintains a strong position in the global supply chain for advanced batteries from refining all the way though to downstream battery cell manufacturing. Chinese production of Class 1 raw materials was 80 percent of the total global output in 2020.

BloombergNEF estimates that by the end of 2022, 26 million EV’s will be on the road globally, of which China accounts for 46% of the total global EV sales to date, followed by Europe at 34% and last by North America at 15%.