Articles and publications featured in leading industry media outlets and trade groups.

The Battery Report 2024

​Co-authored By: Charlie Parker | Published on January 25, 2025

Report Link

This report summarizes the most significant developments in the battery industry. Crowd-sourced from top industry and academia experts, this report seeks to provide a comprehensive and accessible overview of the latest battery research, policy, and business landscape.

- Industry: Commercial milestones in battery development and manufacturing
- Research: Academic breakthroughs in fundamental battery research
- Talent: Insights on talent growth and trends
- Policy: Government targets, incentives and regulations and their implications
- Predictions: Trends that are likely to happen in the next 12 months

The Trillion Dollar Question
A past, present, and future look at BEV assembly plants and how OEMs will build capacity to meet demand

Published By: Ratel Consulting | Published on October 17, 2024

Article Link

​- ​By 2030, over 60% of global battery demand will come from passenger BEVs

- In response, BEV manufacturers will have to make decisions with multi-billion dollar implications on whether to build a new BEV plant or convert an existing ICE plant

- Many general and site specific factors are involved in the decision-making process; new BEV plants and ICE-to-BEV conversions are analyzed to gain a better understanding on where future BEV assembly plants will be located

- ​Building BEV plant capacity globally to 100 million BEVs per year may cost nearly $1 trillion by 2040

Global Battery Factory Database 2.0

​Published By: Ratel Consulting | Published on October 17, 2024

Map & Data Link

​- ​Data fields include OEM, location, status, capacity, capacity schedule, chemistry, format, and more

- Sub-GWh factories included

- Major passenger vehicle assembly plants (EV + ICE) included

- Data fields added as information becomes available

The Battery Report 2023

​Co-authored By: Charlie Parker | Published on January 22, 2024

Report Link

This report summarizes the most significant developments in the battery industry. Crowd-sourced from top industry and academia experts, this report seeks to provide a comprehensive and accessible overview of the latest battery research, policy, and business landscape.

- Industry: Commercial milestones in battery development and manufacturing
- Research: Academic breakthroughs in fundamental battery research
- Talent: Insights on talent growth and trends
- Policy: Government targets, incentives and regulations and their implications
- Predictions: Trends that are likely to happen in the next 12 months

Scale and the Economic Mechanisms of Learning Rate: Applying Lessons From Solar to the Battery Industry

Co-authored By: Charlie Parker | Published on July 25, 2023

Article Link

​- ​Price declines as a function of learning rate are typically perceived to be due to economies of scale but technology and native technology development play a more foundational role.

- As new and niche industries scale, novel innovations become further incentivized as their own markets become large enough to sustain a worthwhile return on investment.

- ​Technology and market development in batteries have tracked closely with PV solar, which, a decade further in commercialization, may offer insights into the future of the industry.

Guide to Investing in the EV Battery Supply Chain

​Contributions By: Ratel Consulting | Published on June 21, 2023

GFI Report Link

UKBS Report Link

​Green Finance Institute's Guide to Investing in the EV Battery Supply Chain is a comprehensive guide to the global and UK battery supply chain, market trends, policy developments, and the latest technologies, to illustrate the wealth of investment opportunities within the automotive battery sector and beyond.

​- Key findings were included in the UK Battery Strategy Report (Page 30)

Green Batteries: Lowering the Energy Storage Manufacturing Carbon Footprint

By: Charlie Parker | Published on February 16, 2023

Article Link

​- ​The EU Batteries Regulation includes a CO2 footprint declaration in 2024, classification by 2026 and maximum limits by 2027 on lithium-ion batteries produced in the EU.

- Higher gravimetric density and less carbon intensive materials and processes will help decrease upstream CO2 footprint.

- ​Green manufacturing technology and lower cost will help the EU achieve larger social and strategic initiatives.

The Battery Report 2022

​Co-authored By: Charlie Parker | Published on January 15, 2023

Report Link

This report summarizes the most significant developments in the battery industry. Crowd-sourced from top industry and academia experts, this report seeks to provide a comprehensive and accessible overview of the latest battery research, policy, and business landscape.

- Industry: Commercial milestones in battery development and manufacturing
- Research: Academic breakthroughs in fundamental battery research
- Talent: Insights on talent growth and trends
- Policy: Government targets, incentives and regulations and their implications
- Predictions: Trends that are likely to happen in the next 12 months

Ultrasound Inspection Optimizes EV Battery Manufacturing

By: Charlie Parker | Published on November 16, 2022

Article Link

​- ​By collecting real-time ultrasound-based inspection data, manufacturers can implement responsive in-line corrective actions, saving time and reducing waste.

- Shorter production ramp time, lower scrap rates, and increased yield are attainable objectives through the use of better sensing technology, controls, and equipment.

The $25,000 Electric Vehicle: How OEMs Achieve Mass Market Success in the EU and USA

By: Charlie Parker | Published on June 1, 2022

Article Link

​- OEMs including Tesla have stated the need and plans for a $25,000 battery electric vehicle (BEV).

- A $25K BEV will need to match internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts in features and performance while maintaining thin margins that rely on volume sales.

- Cell/pack cost reduction is the path forward with chemistry-agnostic manufacturing technologies​.

Powering the Drive to Zero: Unlocking Public and Private Capital for the UK Battery Sector

​Contributions By: Ratel Consulting | Published on May 10, 2022

Report Link

​- In its latest report, the CDRT looks at the opportunity to invest in the burgeoning global demand for EV batteries, which will underpin the future of road transport.

- The report finds that innovative financial solutions including de-risking mechanisms such as guarantees, along with supportive government policies, are essential to unlock the larger sums of capital needed to build battery supply chains.

- ​The CDRT report puts forward a series of solutions to overcome barriers that are holding back investment and is now working towards piloting and launching these demonstrator solutions.

Electrode Manufacturing: Comparative Analysis of Wet & Dry Production Technologies

By: Charlie Parker | Published on March 30, 2022

Article Link

​- Significant $/kWh cost reduction from material technology is becoming more difficult as we approach theoretical gravimetric density limits and cost floors of raw materials.

- Cost reduction technology will be led by electrode manufacturing which can account for about half of total manufacturing costs.

- The wet (solvent + drying) and dry (less/no solvent, less/no drying) electrode manufacturing technology segments will be compared for potential benefits and limitations in mass market applications​.

A Tale of Two Chemistries: Battery Manufacturer’s Strategies for Winning both NCx and LFP Markets

​By: Charlie Parker | Published on March 26, 2022

Article Link

​- By 2030, up to 84% of BEV sales may have non-NCx (eg. LFP) cells, a change from near 0% in EU and North American markets today. This shift is driven by the inherent advantages of LFP over NCx chemistries in terms of cost, safety, reliability, and ESG.

- The volumetric and gravimetric density for cost tradeoff has reached a point where the same envelope for cells can be used for different BEV segments. Announcements of unified BEV platforms having different chemistry options by Tesla, VW, and Stellantis for high-volume BEVs will create significant Non-NCx markets.

- ​This will incentivize cell manufacturers to offer both NCx and non-NCx products where they have traditionally preferred only one.

The Battery Report 2021

​Co-authored By: Charlie Parker | Published on January 8, 2022

Report Link

This report captures the most interesting developments in the industry in 2021. It intends to serve as a comprehensive and accessible guide to battery research, industry, talent, policy, and predictions and foster conversations on the state of batteries and their trajectory for the future.

- Industry: Commercial milestones in battery development and manufacturing
- Research: Academic breakthroughs in fundamental battery research
- Talent: Insights on talent growth and trends
- Policy: Government targets, incentives and regulations and their implications
- Predictions: Trends that are likely to happen in the next 12 months

Road To Zero: Unlocking Public and Private Capital To Decarbonise Road Transport

​Contributions By: Ratel Consulting | Published on November 10, 2021

Report Link

​- The inaugural Coalition for the Decarbonisation of Road Transport (CDRT) report sets out the results of a focused review of the complex and wide-ranging barriers to realising road transport decarbonisation, building on existing research, international best practice, and extensive conversations with experts from across the road transport ecosystem.

- The report reveals an estimated £150bn of gross capital investment is needed by 2030 to finance the transition to zero emission vehicles for consumers, and enable UK-wide charging infrastructure, and suggests 18 potential solutions to catalyse that investment.

Thinking Outside of the Cell: How Battery Adjacent Technologies Can Catalyze Mass EV Adoption

​By: Charlie Parker | Published on November 7, 2021

Article Link

​- Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are a growing but still niche segment in passenger vehicles because of unmet consumer demands for range, safety, and price.

- BEV OEMs are heavily invested in “Generation 4” battery technology to meet these demands, specifically solid-state batteries which may be a decade away from meaningful market penetration, and in the end may not be a panacea.

- Battery adjacent or ‘extra-cell technologies’ are available now or have shorter technology diffusion timelines that can produce results to meet consumer demands and propel mass market adoption for BEVs.