Electric cars without government support are often an expensive proposition to purchase. But now Bloomberg writes that the price of batteries has reached a magical limit.
The price of batteries for electric cars has fallen below a critical threshold. Bloomberg reports that a kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery now costs less than $100, a development that the research firm expects to have a major impact on the price of new electric cars.
In 2010, a kWh battery cost $1,000. Since then, the price has fallen sharply, and two years ago it was down to $140. A temporary increase was followed by further price drops, and now a new milestone has been reached.
The price of $100 per kWh has long been considered a turning point where electric cars would be able to compete with gasoline and diesel cars on price.
According to Bloomberg analysts, this limit has now been broken on the global market. The average price of battery packs has fallen to $97, equivalent to approximately 700 kroner.
– The assessment has long been that the price of $100 per kWh should mark the point where electric cars could compete in price with the combustion engine, writes Bloomberg.
The reasons for the price drop are lower raw material prices and high production capacity in China. Bloomberg predicts that battery prices will continue to fall in 2025 and the following years.
The size of the batteries varies depending on the car model. Small electric cars typically have batteries between 30 and 80 kWh. While the largest models can have batteries of up to 100 kWh.
Since the battery constitutes a significant part of the cost of an electric car, falling battery prices are expected to lead to cheaper electric cars.
It's worth noting, however, that the $100 price tag is a global average. In Europe, the price of batteries is almost 50 percent higher than in China, according to Handelsblatt .
This may explain why many electric cars on the Chinese market are now cheaper than equivalent petrol and diesel cars. At the same time, a German investigation has made it clear that Chinese car brands receive billions of kroner in illegal state subsidies. Read more about it here .
