Lithium Battery Prices Plunge

The electric car market is booming across the world. Tesla’s meteoric rise in value and traditional manufacturers like GM and Ford quickly producing several variants of electric vehicles highlights how the industry is rapidly evolving toward a greener future. Lithium-ion battery technology has often held up many from mass-producing electric vehicles, with the research and cost for the precious metal batteries being too costly. Ongoing data over the last decade shows just how dramatically lithium-ion batteries have fallen in price.

According to data collected by Bloomberg, the volume-weighted average price of a typical lithium-ion battery plunged by over $1,000 since 2010. As of 2020, the average price is roughly $137, down from an astounding $1,191 just 10 years ago. Overall, the price fell rapidly between 2010 and 2015 before falling in smaller increments the following five years.

The article from Bloomberg notes how the new age of cleaner energy will be led by advanced battery technologies becoming available for much cheaper prices. Phones, cars, laptops, drones and everything in-between are all powered by lithium-ion batteries, and the continued drop in production costs will inevitably lead to wider adoption by industries that have traditionally used fossil fuels. Cars are the big one; if companies can cheaply purchase advanced lithium-ion batteries that can hold 500 miles or more on one charge, the flood gates will most certainly open for electric vehicles to swallow more and more of the car market.