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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Is China the top country for electric vehicle battery production?

Monday, November 29, 2021

By Jacob Alabab-Moser

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YES

China is the global leader in the production of lithium-ion batteries, the power source for most electric vehicles. Forecasts predict 77% of global lithium-ion production capacity will be located in China by the end of 2021.

China controls 80% of the world’s raw material refining for lithium-ion batteries, 77% of the world’s cell capacity and 60% of the world’s component manufacturing, according to BloombergNEF’s 2020 lithium-ion battery supply chain ranking. China is also the top country in the world for domestic battery demand. China currently has 93 factories manufacturing lithium-ion battery cells, in comparison to four in the U.S.

China is expected to expand its dominance in the battery market. Experts predict that 148 of the world’s 200 lithium-ion battery factories to be built by 2030 will be located in the country. They also suspect that Chinese companies will accelerate the construction of battery factories overseas.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Global battery arms race: 200 gigafactories; China leads

BloombergNEF China dominates the lithium-ion battery supply chain, but Europe is on the rise

Washington Post Biden wants to create millions of clean-energy jobs. China and Europe are way ahead of him.

Oxford Institute for Energy Studies The global battery arms race: Lithium-ion battery gigafactories and their supply chain

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.