Lithium ion batteries to reign in automotive market by 2020

The market research firm cited plunging prices and accelerating demand from the electric and hybrid automobile market. As such, global lithium ion battery revenue is expected to expand to $53.7billion in 2020, up from $11.8bn in 2010. Revenue is anticipated to rise to $31.4bn in 2015, allowing lithium ion to surpass the current dominant rechargeable battery technology, lead acid. "Lithium ion at present is much more expensive than alternative technologies, costing two to three times as much as sodium sulfur, lead acid and nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries," said Satoru Oyama, principal analyst of Japan electronics research for IHS. "However, lithium ion pricing will decline much more rapidly than the other technologies, coming close to cost parity in 2015, and then becoming the least expensive type of rechargeable battery in 2020." Combined with the advantages of the technology, Oyama believes the increasingly competitive cost of lithium ion will cause car makers to employ it as their battery technology of choice in future electric and hybrid vehicles.