Hype vs. Policy: The Chinese Market for Lithium Batteries

While the consumer electronics market continued to dominate the $5 billion, 19.3 GWh lithium-ion market in China in 2011, emerging applications are where the hype is and where policy is being focused. The markets for electric bikes and electric vehicles are anticipated to grow fast in a few years, although electric vehicles’ progress will be falling behind government’s plans. In the background, policies are going into place to drive lithium-ion battery adoption into historically lead-acid-battery-dominated applications, allowing the winners in this transition to wait out slower-than-expected growth in other applications.