Electric Vehicles

While the electrification transition continues rapidly, we see that existing electricity networks are struggling to support this transition. For this reason, demand for natural gas continues to increase despite all decarbonization efforts. Depending on the development level of countries, their current energy distribution, resources, costs and social perceptions, natural gas is seen as an aid to these efforts in some regions and an obstacle to them in some regions. Regardless of how it is accepted, the need to develop base load and networks is an important problem that needs to be solved before electrification becomes widespread.

Along with these developments, another factor is rapidly developing and securing its place in the global system. Electric vehicles, which need to catch up with the development speed of electrification…

In 2024, electric car sales increased by 25% to 17 million. This number constitutes 20% of all sales. It is seen that this trend will increase every year and policies are being developed to make all vehicles sold electric after 2035. Electric vehicle sales constitute 85% of the battery market. More than 70% of all EV batteries ever produced have been made in China, representing a significant technological breakthrough. Annual battery demand has surpassed 1 terawatt-hour (TWh), a historic milestone. Lithium prices have fallen by more than 85% from their peak in 2022. However, rapid developments in the battery industry are also supporting price declines. Today, China produces more than three-quarters of batteries sold worldwide, with average prices falling by around 30% by 2024. Batteries in China are over 30% and 20% cheaper than those in Europe and North America, respectively. Chinese manufacturers have prioritized a cheaper battery chemistry, lithium-iron phosphate (LFP). Initially considered unsuitable for electric cars due to their low energy density, LFP batteries have developed, which have more than tripled their share in the past five years and now account for almost half of the global EV market. Today, they are around 30% cheaper than their main competitors, lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (NMC).

As the energy transition accelerates and countries and consumers move away from carbon, global annual battery demand will increase exponentially. Today, the density of electric vehicles is in cities, but the electric trend continues to increase in construction equipment and agricultural machinery. Another area that needs to be studied is how the rural grid, which is less renewed than in cities, can keep up with the evolving use of EVs with electrification.