Warren Buffett's BYD Chasing Panasonic In Lithium Race: EV Lithium-Ion Battery Suppliers Outlook For H1 2016.

InsideEVs.

  Now we know who is feeding exactly this enormous growth of electric cars in China. InsideEVs provides very interesting data on the state of our lithium race for EVs lithium batteries market. Panasonic is still holding the number 1 place with 36% of the market, "but in terms of growth BYD is second to none moving up by more than 300%!" Now Warren Buffett's BYD claims 18% of this market. The first half of 2016 has seen an increase by 81% to nearly 8.5 GWh of lithium batteries capacity. As you can see, there is no Tesla yet on this chart at all! All lithium cells for Tesla are supplied by Panasonic. And there is no lithium under Gigafactory floor in Nevada. 
  Should we discuss the lithium demand picture again with 150 GWh of lithium batteries just coming from Tesla Gigafactory 1 by 2022 after initial 50 GWh in 2018? And what about another dozen of lithium batteries Megafactories all around the globe? 

  International Lithium strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium supplies Panasonic and BYD. Now this $4.5 billion giant from China finances International Lithium projects in Argentina and Ireland.

InsideEVs.

Lithium Market Small But Complex. Canadian Junior And Chinese Partner Taking Long View.

"Right now, Ganfeng is advancing ILC’s Mariana project in Salta province, Argentina. In July 2016, ILC and Ganfeng co-announced that a $12 million budget has been approved to accelerate exploration and development at Mariana.

ILC president Kirill Klip noted that Ganfeng has a $4.5 billion US market cap holding 19 patents for lithium products. Klip said the $12.5 million will enable ILC to firm up the size of the Mariana resource and move forward its application for a pilot production plant on the property.                                                     

“This access to capital and Ganfeng’s advanced lithium extraction technology puts  International Lithium in an exceptional position to move our project forward,” Klip said.  He cited recent discussions about ILC’s project with senior officials in the Argentinian government as evidence that the country is enthused about foreign investment in natural resource development. Read more."

InsideEVs:

EV Lithium-Ion Battery Suppliers Outlook For H1 2016

"Here is a quick look at the progress for the lithium-ion battery market for electric cars,  which turns out to be growing faster than electric car market itself, as provided by some valuable data compiled by EV Sales Blog.

Today’s Li-ion battery sales (as defined by energy) grows faster than the EVs themselves because on top of the increasing plug-ins sales, battery pack capacity is going up.

As a result, the first half year total MWh of batteries produced has increased by about 81% – to nearly 8,500 MWh (8.5 GWh), while the plug-in market itself increased by about 50%.

All the top battery suppliers note an increase of sales. Panasonic remains the top player, with more than one-third of the market, but in terms of growth, BYD is second to none moving up by more than 300%.

Interestingly, Nissan’s AESC is back on the medal podium ahead of LG Chem, which is now gearing up for a strong run at 3rd in 2017 with the Chevrolet Bolt EVs (60 kWh), which arrives in Q4 for the United States.

EV Sales Blog"