Li-ion batteries to feature in over 60% hybrid electric vehicles by 2020

As the automotive market transitions to electrical autos, businesses developing lithium-ion battery technologies will make strides. Li-ion technologies is speedily replacing nickel-metal hydride batteries in hybrid electrical vehicles, plus the highly developed battery market place for emerging plug-in hybrid automobiles will be worth billions of dollars within a decade, based on a report by marketplace study firm GBI Study. But even though Japanese producers presently control a majority of your world wide superior battery current market, South Korean and specifically Chinese firms are drawing closer. Nickel-metal hydride batteries account for 97% of your hybrid electrical car market by revenue. But the nickel-metal hydride technological innovation has reached its maturity, Li-ion technological innovation is advancing a lot more easily and offers far better overall performance characteristics, such as longer life, high energy density, and is much more light weight. The report estimates that hybrid electrical autos will make up 10% of new gross sales by 2020 and that Li-ion batteries will likely be in in excess of 60% of those automobiles and trucks. But plug-in hybrid electric powered cars could be an even bigger opportunity for innovative battery makers. The authors believe the automotive business will evolve from hybrid electric to plug-in hybrid electrical vehicles “in the near future” and that the pace of the transition is going to be much faster than expected. This shift will provide a “huge product sales growth” chance for advanced batteries, Li-ion batteries in specific. The report estimates that international plug-in automobiles income will reach 1% from the light-duty automobile market by 2015 and 5.3% by 2020. That could translate into a global plug-in vehicle battery market place of US$17.3 bln by 2020. Highly developed battery manufacturing currently is dominated by China, Japan and South Korea, together accounting for 98% of the industry in 2009. While Japan’s share of your market place will remain significant in the close to term, GBI researchers say that the country’s dominance is “fading away.” Japanese manufactures controlled 55% of world wide sophisticated battery manufacturing in 2009, down from 78% in 2002. Meanwhile, China’s share rose to 25% in 2009 from 11% in 2002, and South Korea’s reached 18% in 2009 from just 6% in 2002 (See chart below)!!!

China gives benefits of attractive government incentives and cheap labor, which has allowed manufacturers there to replace a conventionally capital-intensive enterprise utilizing automated manufacturing lines with a labor-intensive one that relies on people-power in its production lines. Aware of these benefits, Japanese and Western corporations are fast entering into partnerships with Chinese battery manufactures. Warren Buffet has invested US$230 mln into BYD Company, a Shenzhen-based battery and electric car maker gearing up to sell electrical automobiles inside US starting in 2011. According to previous reports, hybrid cars will likely be truly mass-market in China by 2011 or 2012, and also the country’s fleet will start a minimum 10-year transition to plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles as early as this year.

As per Wikipedia, the Toyota hybrids combined with Lexus reached one million hybrids marketed inside the US by February 2009, and worldwide income of hybrids by both brands totaled over 2 million vehicles by August 2009. As the top selling hybrid in each US and Japan, the Toyota Prius reached cumulative product sales of 1.8 mln worldwide as of July 2010. Globally, Toyota Motor Corporation is the leader with over 2.68 mln hybrids bought by July 2010, adopted by Honda Motor Co., Ltd. with over 300,000 hybrids offered by January 2009 and Ford Motor Corporation with a lot more than 100,000 hybrids marketed by December 2009. Over 3 million hybrid electrical vehicles have been offered globally by July 2010, led by the United States with virtually one.8 million units, followed by Japan with more than one million units and Europe with greater than 200,000.

Inside the US, California has been the state leading hybrid sales in USA, followed by New York and Florida. Hybrid gross sales in Japan nearly triple in 2009 from 2008 as a result of government incentives that included a scrappage program, tax breaks on hybrid automobiles and other low emission automobiles and trucks, and a higher levy on gasoline that pushed up prices.