Electric vehicles are basically cool-looking batteries with wheels. The EV revolution wouldn’t be possible without the advances made in lithium battery technologies – but there’s still a long way to go. Take the Tesla Model 3, the most affordable model in the company’s lineup. The battery packs weigh in around 1,000 pounds and cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $14,000 – about a third of the price of the entire vehicle based on 100-kilowatt hour (kWh) batteries at $142 per kWh.
The big brains who calculate such things tell us that batteries need to hit about $100 per kWh to reach price parity with the internal combustion engine. It’s only a matter of time, considering costs have dropped nearly 90% over the last decade, from $1,200/kWh in 2010 to $132/kWh in 2021. In fact, the MBAs at BloombergNEF predict average battery pack prices should be below $100/kWh by 2024. Of course, there are the usual caveats with these projections, especially given the supply chain woes from the Rona. The near-term forecast calls for a slight uptick in per kWh costs due to rises in raw materials.
Sign up to our newsletter to get more of our great research delivered straight to your inbox!
Nanalyze Weekly includes useful insights written by our team of underpaid MBAs, research on new disruptive technology stocks flying under the radar, and summaries of our recent research. Always 100% free.
Become a premium member and get access to hundreds of premium articles, reports and additional content.
Nanalyze Premium is your comprehensive guide to investing in disruptive technologies. Read by the top investment banks, management consultancies, VCs, and research houses. Trusted by over 100,000 institutional and retail investors. Covering disruptive technologies for over 18 years.