Decline in electric car battery prices

Apr 24 2012

The average price of an electric vehicle-grade battery dropped by 14% compared to a year ago.  The current average is $689 per kilowatt hour.  This can largely be attributed to manufacturing capacity outstripping demand.  This is according to a new study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Reduced battery prices for electric cars could enhance their commercial customer base, which has been growing at a slow rate.  The US would like to see close to one million plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles on its roads within the next ten to 15 years.

To help this goal become a reality, the United States government has invested more than $2 billion under President Obama to support domestic production of car batteries and billions more to fund electric car production to reduce US oil imports and cut pollution levels.

However, for electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi Motor Corp.'s iMiEV and the Tesla Model S to have longer battery ranges, they need to store 16 to 85 kWh at a price of between $11, 200 and $34, 000 – which significantly increases the total cost of the vehicle.

Prices for batteries of plug-in hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius are on average 67% higher than those for fully-electric cars, largely due to the higher power-to-energy efficiency needed for plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The Bloomberg New Energy Finance study found that the average cost of a lithium-ion battery pack for electric cars was $689/kWh during the first three months of this year, down from about $800/kWh a year ago.

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