Despite the fact that battery costs have been dropping since 2010, a recent spike in the price of key battery metals like lithium has cast doubt on their future. So, here we break down the cost of an EV battery cell.
The global supply of electric vehicles (EVs) and demand for their batteries is increasing as battery costs continue to fall.
Since 2010, the average cost of a lithium-ion (Li-ion) EV battery pack has dropped from $1,200 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to just $132/kWh in 2021, according to Govind Bhutada of Visual Capitalist.
Multiple interconnected modules made up of up to hundreds of rechargeable Li-ion cells are found within each EV battery pack. These cells account for around 77 percent of the entire cost of a typical battery pack, or about $101/kWh.
So, what factors influence the price of individual battery cells?
The Cost of a Battery Cell
The price of each cell's cathode accounts for more than 50% of the whole unit cost, according to BloombergNEF figu...