A few days ago, data released by SNE Research, a South Korean market research agency, shows that in the first four months of 2025, the worldElectric vehicle(including pure electric models, plug-in hybrid models and hybrid models) battery installed capacity reached 308.5 GWh, an increase of 40.2% from 220.1 GWh in the same period last year.
Global electric vehicle battery installed capacity in the first four months of 2025: CATL continues to lead, and Honeycomb Energy still grows the fastest
In the first four months of this year, a total of six Chinese electric vehicle battery manufacturers ranked among the top ten in the global electric vehicle battery installed list.
Among them, CATL won the crown for the second time, with battery installed capacity increasing by 42.4% year-on-year to 117.6 GWh, with a market share of 38.1%, a year-on-year increase of 0.6 percentage points. In addition to Chinese auto brands such as ZEEKR, Wenjie, Ideal and Xiaomi, global mainstream car companies such as Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group also widely use CATL batteries.
As the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, BYD’s battery installed capacity increased by 60.8% year-on-year to 53.4 GWh, and its market share rose from 15.1% in the same period last year to 17.3%, ranking second. This further highlights BYD’s dual advantages in the production of electric vehicles, including battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles, and battery supply. In 2024, BYD’s electricCar salesIt is expected to sell approximately 4 million units and aims to achieve a sales target of approximately 6 million units by 2025. In addition, BYD is actively expanding the Asian market and the European market to accelerate the expansion of overseas market share.
The other four Chinese battery manufacturers also continued to maintain strong growth momentum. China Innovation Airlines (CALB) ranked fifth with a year-on-year increase of 21.4% to 11.9 GWh in battery installation; Gotion’s battery installed capacity reached 10.6 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 82.8%, ranking sixth; EVE Lithium Energy (EVE) battery installed capacity surged 69.4% year-on-year to 8.3 GWh, ranking ninth; It was followed by SVOLT, with 8.1 GWh of battery installations, a year-on-year surge of 113.2%, making it the fastest-growing battery manufacturer on the list in the first four months of this year.
South Korea’s Big Three (LGNew energy, SK On and Samsung SDI) accounted for 17.9% of the global electric vehicle battery installation, down 4.6 percentage points year-on-year; Among them, LG New Energy’s battery installed capacity still increased by 16.3% year-on-year to 31.4 GWh, ranking third, but its market share has dropped from 12.3% in the same period last year to 10.2%; SK On’s battery installed capacity increased by 24.1% year-on-year to 13.4 GWh, ranking fourth, while its market share has fallen to 4.3% from 4.9% in the same period last year; Samsung SDI’s battery installed capacity fell 11.2% year-on-year to 10.3GWh, and its market share also fell to 3.3% from 5.3% in the same period last year, mainly due to the decline in demand for batteries from major automakers in Europe and North America.
From the perspective of specific supporting models, Samsung SDI’s batteries are mainly used in brands such as BMW, Audi and Rivian. In the first four months of this year, although the sales of BMW i4, i5, i7 and iX models equipped with Samsung SDI batteries remained stable (of which the sales performance of the i4 and i5 was particularly outstanding), and the sales of the Rivian R1S and R1T models in the US market were also relatively stable, because the Rivian standard range version of the R1S and R1T used lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries not produced by Samsung SDI, which had a negative impact on Samsung SDI’s battery installation. In addition, despite the increase in sales of the Q6 e-tron based on the PPE platform, the decline in sales of the Audi Q8 e-Tron has further dragged down Samsung SDI’s battery installed performance, causing Samsung SDI’s battery installed capacity to Audi to decrease by 6.2% year-on-year.
SK On mainly supplies batteries to Hyundai Motor Group, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group. In the first four months of this year, Hyundai Motor Group’s sales rebounded after the release of the IONIQ 5 and EV6 revised models; The strong sales of Ford F-150 Lightning also provide stable support for SK On’s battery installation; At the same time, strong sales of the Volkswagen ID.7 and ID.4 also drove the growth of SK On’s battery installation.
LG New Energy’s batteries are mainly used in models of brands such as Tesla, Kia, Volkswagen and Chevrolet. In the first four months of this year, despite a 14.3% year-on-year decline in LG New Energy’s battery installed capacity for Tesla, strong sales of the Volkswagen ID series and Kia EV3, as well as the growth in sales of models based on the Ultium platform, such as the Chevrolet Equinox, Blazer and Silverado EV, still drove LG New Energy’s overall battery installed capacity by 16.3% year-on-year.
In addition, in the top ten global electric vehicle battery installations in the first four months of this year, it mainly supplies batteries for TeslaPanasonicIt is the only Japanese company and the only battery manufacturer other than Samsung SDI to see a decline in installed capacity. In the first four months of this year, Panasonic’s battery installed capacity fell 8.7% year-on-year to 9.4 GWh, ranking eighth. Tesla’s sales have declined this year due to reduced demand for Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y, while Panasonic’s battery installed capacity has also decreased due to its high dependence on Tesla. But with the upgrade of its 2170 and 4680 batteries, Panasonic’s battery installed capacity in the North American market is expected to pick up rapidly.
In the face of the recent US policy of imposing tariffs on Chinese batteries and raw materials, Panasonic is adjusting its supply chain and increasing the proportion of localized production in North America. It is worth noting that Panasonic is working to reduce its dependence on Chinese materials while securing the supply of new materials by expanding local procurement to build a stable battery supply chain. These measures are expected to increase its battery installed capacity and supply stability in the North American market in the future.
The market share gap between Chinese and Korean battery manufacturers continues to widen
It is worth mentioning that from 2017 to 2024, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of global electric vehicle battery installed capacity reached 47.5%, highlighting the continuous growth of the global electric vehicle market.
In the first four months of this year, relying on the world’s largest electric vehicle market, the market share of China’s two major electric vehicle battery giants, CATL and BYD, continued to increase, accounting for a total of 55.4% of the global electric vehicle battery market, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the first quarter of this year and an increase of 2.8 percentage points from 52.6% in the same period last year; Although the market share of China Innovation Airlines declined slightly, from 4.5% in the same period last year to 3.9%, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, The market shares of EVE Lithium Energy and Honeycomb Energy increased by 0.8 percentage points, 0.5 percentage points and 0.9 percentage points year-on-year respectively, bringing the market share of these four Chinese battery manufacturers on the list to 12.6%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the first quarter of this year, and much higher than the market share in the same period last year (11%). This means that in the first four months of this year, Chinese electric vehicle battery manufacturers had a total market share of 68% in the global market.
In contrast, in the first four months of this year, the market share of the battery installed capacity of the South Korean battery giants has further shrunk from 22.5% in the same period last year and 18.7% in the first quarter of this year to 17.9%, and the gap between Chinese and Korean battery manufacturers has further widened; At the same time, Japanese battery manufacturer Panasonic also has a market share of only 3.0%, down from 3.3% in the first quarter of this year.
Currently, the United States is trying to establish its core position in the restructuring of global supply chains through policy adjustments such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit (AMPC), as well as strengthened controls on Chinese batteries and raw materials.
In the face of changes in U.S. policy, South Korean battery companies’ plans to enter the North American market and expand their market share face both opportunities and challenges. To this end, Korean battery companies are establishing local joint ventures and expanding battery production lines in the United States to ensure supply chain stability.
However, in response to the Trump administration’s tariffs, China has imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements and some magnets since April 4, requiring exporters to obtain licenses from the Chinese government. In electric vehicles, rare earth materials are not only used in electric motors to improve the performance of electric vehicles, but are also commonly used as cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries to enhance battery performance and improve battery life.
As China dominates the rare earth processing market, controlling more than 90% of the world’s rare earth magnet processing capacity, China’s export restrictions on rare earth materials will also affect overseas battery manufacturers to a certain extent.
Therefore, in the medium and long term, enhancing global competitiveness through raw material procurement diversification and technological innovation will become a key path for enterprise development. At the same time, in order to cope with Europe’s increasingly strict carbon neutrality policies and the intensified price competition of Chinese companies, relevant enterprises need to formulate market-customized global strategies to achieve sustainable growth through localized layout and strengthening partnerships.
