This study covers the European secondary lithium-ion battery market with detailed analysis on revenues and forecasts for the same. It also discusses some of the more important issues facing the market in the form of drivers and restraints along with a competitive structure of the industry
Research Overview This Frost & Sullivan research service titled European Secondary Lithium Battery Market provides an in-depth analysis of key market trends, revenue forecasts from 2005 to 2015 along with a discussion of the competitive structure of the industry.
In this research, Frost & Sullivan’s expert analysts thoroughly examine the following end-user segments: consumer, industrial and automotive while providing a snapshot complete with a revenue forecast for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.
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Market Overview
Advanced Performance Characteristics Underline Rising Popularity of Li-ion Batteries
The credit crunch has hit global and European economies hard. The lack of available finances has affected investments, causing a drop in consumer spending, rising unemployment and a decline in industrial output.
As the major market for Li-ion batteries is in the industrial and automotive end-user segments, demand has fallen, evidenced by the drop in revenues. However, the market is poised to rebound around end-2010 and, with the electric car segment projected to explode in 2012-2013, the market is set for sustained expansion.
Superior performance characteristics that make Li-ion batteries the preferred choice of industry will push growth in the future, notes the analyst of this research. Li-ion batteries have a high energy density of 120-160 Wh/kg, compared to 30-80 Wh/kg for Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries.
Moreover, Li-ion batteries do not suffer from memory effect and have a low self-discharge rate of about 5 per cent per month, compared to 10 per cent for common NiMH batteries.
These superior characteristics of high power and long runtime make them suitable for consumer, industrial and upcoming EV and HEV applications.
The Li-ion battery is emerging as the chemistry of choice and is set to dominate the future of the battery industry, especially with electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) poised for mass production, which are looking to adopt this chemistry owing to its advanced performance characteristics.
Continued R&D and Push into EV Segment to Maintain Market Expansion
When Li-ion batteries were first introduced in the market, there were several problems connected with their safety and particularly, with their thermal runaway. The best example of these safety issues was the recall of millions of laptop batteries by Sony Corporation in 2006 that caused massive losses, both in terms of revenues and trust in Li-ion batteries.
Li-ion batteries have a tendency to become unstable at temperatures above 140C, explains the analyst. This needs to be overcome in order to boost customer trust in these batteries and promote their usage in the industrial as well as automotive segments.
The need of the hour is to invest in R&D and find new materials that are safer as well as low cost. New cathode chemistries such as Li-iron phosphate and manganese spinel as well as anode and electrolyte technologies promise higher performance, while also providing improved safety.
Continued R&D to find new and better chemistries, increasing process efficiency and curbing production costs will ensure a steady revenue flow, advises the analyst. This, together with efforts to expand into the new space created by electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) should help increase, if not maintain, the current market share.
www.researchandmarkets.com/research/190047/european_secondary
