EV figures point to fast global growth

Global demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is uneven, but tracking performed by South Korea-based SNE Research indicates EV deliveries and installed battery capacity are growing at a medium-to-high double-digit rate in 2023.

The research firm says from January to May of this year, global EV registrations of nearly 4.85 million units represent 43 percent year-on-year growth compared with last year.

SNE says its research also shows that in the first five months of this year, global EV battery usage has posted 52.3 percent growth compared with one year ago. The company calculates some 237.6 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery capacity was delivered globally to power new EV batteries from January through May of this year, compared with 156 GWh delivered in the first five months of 2022.

Much of the growth is driven by the increasing shares in the Chinese domestic market for EVs.

However, the shift to EVs—which eventually will impact what auto dismantlers and auto shredder operators see flowing into their facilities—is not occurring in China alone.

China’s 57.8 percent 2023 EV market share is a world leader, but EV sales in Europe are up 23.7 percent thus far in 2023, and in North America they have risen by 51.7 percent year on year, according to SNE Research. Some 611,000 new EVs have been registered in North America in the first five months of 2023, up from 403,000 in the same time frame last year.

Combined with at least one recent forecast that predicts Americans and people in other nations with developed economies might own fewer passenger vehicles, the shift toward EVs could reduce the generation of several secondary commodities, including platinum group metals-containing catalytic converters, lead-acid batteries, aluminum castings and even ferrous scrap.

Offering better long-term news to recyclers, EVs tend to include more copper wiring and aluminum body panels and are creating a market for nickel, lithium and cobalt oxides harvested from end-of-life EV batteries.

In North America, EV battery production and battery recycling capacity are being added regularly in anticipation that the current 12.6 percent growth trend is likely to continue or gain momentum.

Much of the growth in North American battery production capacity is being made in cooperation with South Korea-based battery producers including LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI, as well as with Japan’s Panasonic.

On the battery recycling front in North America, high-capacity installations planned or underway include those by Nevada-based Redwood Materials; North Carolina-based Cirba Solutions; and Massachusetts-based Ascend Elements.