South Korean battery manufacturer LG Chem took the lead in the global electric vehicle battery market in February, accounting for more than one third of global EV battery capacity.

According to the latest report from Adamas Intelligence, LG Chem supplied 1,800 MWh of EV batteries for newly sold passenger EVs in February, commanding 34.6 percent of total battery capacity deployed to EVs globally in the same month. 

The battery deployment for passenger xEVs (BEV, PHEV, HEV) in February 2020 reahced 5.2 GWh, the report said.

While the sales of xEV car in China were weak, the market still expanded by 21 percent on-year.

LG Chem was followed by Japan’s Panasonic, China’s CATL and Korea’s Samsung SDI.

The battery capacity of newly registered EVs in China plunged 74.2 percent on-year to 0.6 GWh in February due to weak demand and factory shutdowns amid the coronavirus outbreak according to market tracker SNE Research

But LG Chem’s dominance was propelled by strong global sales of Audi e-Tron Quattro, Hyundai Kona and Jaguar I-Pace, which use LG Chem’s battery cells, the report said.

However, it remains to be seen whether LG Chem will be able to maintain the top spot as the Chinese government said on April 1 that it would extend its state subsidy program for EVs for two years until the end of 2022, the move of which is expected to benefit China’s CATL and BYD.

EVs manufactured in China are eligible for subsidies if they are included in Chinese government’s whitelist for new energy vehicle subsidies. Only two EVs equipped with LG Chem’s batteries are on the list, which are Tesla’s Model 3 EV sedan and Model 3.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)