Top 12 Battery Manufacturers in USA

Published on December 7, 2023 at 12:33 pm by Ty Haqqi in Industries, Lists, News, Tech

In this article, we will be taking a look at the top 12 battery manufacturers in USA. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see the top 5 battery manufacturers in USA.

While the push for developing electric vehicles has been ongoing for several years now, electric vehicles sales are now reaching a fever pitch. After already achieving record sales in 2022, the electric vehicle industry is continuing to grow exponentially, and according to the International Energy Agency, electric vehicle sales are expected to jump by more than 35% in 2023. This is expected to have significant benefits with respect to climate change, as by 2030, increased electrification of vehicles will result in a reduction of 5 million barrels of oil per day by 2030. By 2035, nearly half of all cars sold globally are expected to be electric vehicles, and if emerging markets increase investments in electric vehicles, this percentage could increase even further.

Of course, to ensure steady supply of electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries are required to power them, which is where the top battery manufacturers in the U.S. come in. Right now, the market is absolutely dominated by China and you will struggle to find any American company among the biggest battery manufacturers in the world, with the space completely dominated by China. This should come as no surprise considering how China has set its eyes on becoming the center for electric vehicle battery and is easily the biggest battery manufacturing country in the entire world, accounting for nearly 80% of the global market share.

Photo by Kumpan Electric on Unsplash

On the other hand, the U.S. accounts for just over 6% of the global battery industry, though the top battery manufacturers in America are starting to grow, and competition is continuing to increase. There’s a similar trend across the world, and according to McKinsey, as electric vehicle sales continue to grow, the demand for batteries is increasing too and better solutions are required in the industry. Analysts forecasting the value of the battery industry are consistently underestimating forecast and regularly revising their forecasts upwards. Even McKinsey under-forecasted when it mentioned in 2019 that the electric battery market would grow 25% yearly by 2030, and is now expected to grow by 30% annually from 2022 to 2030 and is expected to be valued at $400 billion with a market size close to 4.7 TWh.

One of the biggest challenges being faced by battery manufacturers, including the top battery manufacturers in the U.S., is to avoid shortages as demand continues to increase. To this end, battery manufacturers need to ensure consistent supply of raw materials and make better investment decisions while increasing scale. Further, companies need to commit fully to decarbonization in an effort to ensure true, long-term sustainability. While electric vehicles are not the only industry using lithium-ion batteries, they are by far its biggest users, and by 2030, are expected to account for 4,300 GWh out of aforementioned market size of 4,700 GWh.

In the United States, the top battery manufacturers are facing greater competition as electric vehicle sales increase, with the aim to reduce dependency on potentially dangerous mining methods being used by other countries, while battery imports are also considerably more expensive. However, perhaps the biggest reason that battery recycling is continuing to see significant improve is because of a clause in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, where 10 years worth of tax credits are given to those who are locally manufacturing battery cells and modules. If said batteries are recycled in the U.S., even if they’ve been production on foreign soil, they are eligible for the aforementioned concession. Ascend Elements, one of the top battery manufacturers in the U.S., is aiming to use $480 million from grants obtained from the U.S. Department of Energy to open a major manufacturing plant in Kentucky in Q4 2024. Even in the country, lithium-ion battery dominance is spread unequally among different states, and according to U.S. Department of Energy, Montana, Kentucky and Georgia are expected to dominate the industry by 2030, as between 10 to 13 million electric vehicles are expected to be produced in the country by then.

In the U.S., Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), the most valuable car company in the world, is also engaged in battery production. After a poor 2022 based on its share price decline, the company has recovered incredibly well in 2023, with Tesla, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) share price increasing by 143% in 2023 YTD. The company mentioned its battery business and incentives the company has received in its Q2 2023 earnings call, stating “On the first part of the question for IRA manufacturing incentives, we provided previous guidance that we expect these to be, for the course of this year, in the range of 150 million to 250 million per quarter. We are staying within that boundary as we guided previously. So, that was the case in Q2 as well. I will note, I think we’ve mentioned this before, that this includes a 50-50 sharing of credits for qualified cells from our long-term battery partner, Panasonic. On the commodities side, we are continuing to see improvements there, as we’ve discussed previously. Lithium is the most notable improvement so far, I think commented on this on the last call, because typically, we see this coming about a quarter before it actually is realized in our financials. And also, just as a reminder, we’re not fully exposed to the price of lithium. Our supply chain team has done a terrific job in partnership with another a bunch of other companies to put in place some long-term agreements here. But we do have some exposure that moves up and down. We’re also seeing benefits in aluminum and steel, which I think is great, not as large as the lithium impacts, but they contribute nonetheless.”

Baron Partners Fund made the following comment about Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its Q2 2023 investor letter:

Many factors contributed to the strong performance of our largest Disruptive Growth position, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), in the period. Investors’ concerns regarding Tesla in 2022 continue to dissipate, and the company’s business has continued to grow materially, although at below peak margins. Tesla’s deliveries in China are recovering. The company’s newest factory in Texas has ramped production and should contribute to improved domestic sales and margins. U.S. government policies have lowered the cost to own Tesla vehicles, while also reducing the company’s battery production expenses.

We continue to believe that Tesla is only scratching the surface of its potential. We regard announced partnerships between Tesla and its competitors in the quarter as important. In early June, Tesla agreed to provide Ford Motors access to Tesla’s electric vehicle (EV) charging technology and network. Other traditional and pure EV manufacturers, including General Motors, Rivian, and Volvo, quickly followed suit. We expect additional charging partnerships to ensue. In our view, these relationships validate Tesla’s charging technology and infrastructure as superior to other standards. Consolidation around a single technology should accelerate charging infrastructure deployment, diminish the risk of Tesla’s technology becoming obsolete, and lessen a key concern of hesitant EV purchasers. EV adoption is at a tipping point. And Tesla, with its approximately 60% domestic market share of EVs, should be the most important beneficiary of this shift…”

Methodology

Determining the top 12 battery manufacturers in the U.S. wasn’t an easy task. Many of the companies operating in this space aren’t based in the U.S. but have major operations and manufacturing facilities in the country. We researched various companies in the industry and where possible, ranked them according to their revenue derived from the U.S.

12. iM3NY

iM3NY is a lithium-ion cell manufacturer and in 2021, secured funding for the creation of plant with a capacity of 1 Gwh, which saw commercial production begin in 2022.

11. A123 Systems

A123 Systems is a Chinese company which has subsidiaries in the U.S. and is actually said to have paved the way for China’s dominance in the EV industry. Initially an American company which went bankrupt in 2012, it was then purchases by Wanxiang Group for $256.6 million. If the company had received the requisite support from governmental policies which encouraged innovation, it is very likely that the lithium-ion battery landscape would be completely different.

10. Sila Nanotechnologies

Established in 2011, Sila Nanotechnologies is working to bring fast-charging to electric vehicles in the U.S. The company’s nano-composite silicon anode is able to increase both the range and reduction in charging times.

9. LGChem

LGChem is considered to be among the leading lithium companies in the world, and in November 2022, announced that it would invest more than $3 billion for the construction of a battery cathode factory in Tennessee, confirming its status as one of the top battery manufacturers in the U.S. While the company itself is Korean, its operations in the U.S. are extensive.

8. QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS)

Despite a market cap in excess of $3 billion, QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS) hasn’t started to deliver revenue yet, with an operating loss of nearly $0.5 billion. QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS) has had a strong 2023 so far, gaining more than 13% YTD 2023, though compared to where it was last year, QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE:QS) is still down more than 25%.

7. SES AI Corporation (NYSE:SES)

One of the top battery manufacturers in the U.S., SES AI Corporation (NYSE:SES) has seen its share price fall by more than 20% in 2023. Currently, SES AI Corporation (NYSE:SES) has still not earned revenue and recorded a gross loss of nearly $80 million in 2022. Currently, SES AI Corporation (NYSE:SES) is worth over $850 million.

6. Solid Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLDP)

Solid Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLDP) has scaled up greatly from 2021 to 2022, with its revenue increasing from $2.7 million in 2021 to nearly $12 million in 2022, and its trailing-twelve month (TTM) revenue is almost $15.6 million. Solid Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLDP) aims to revolutionize the electric battery industry in the U.S., and has got off to a good start, having entered into a joint development partnership with BMW Group, one of the largest car companies by revenue. Despite these achievements, Solid Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLDP) has seen its share price drop by nearly 22% YTD 2023.

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