The batteries are the major cost for electric cars and what makes what we call volume cars still have price tags of over 300,000 kronor. But considering how the price development for the battery pack has looked over the past ten years, there is hope that we will soon see more affordable prices.

The analysis company Bloomberg NEF makes an annual battery report. In the edition for 2020, they write that this year’s average price per kWh battery pack lands at 137 dollars, corresponding to 1,100 kronor. That’s 89 percent lower than the $ 1,100 / kWh battery pack on average cost in 2010.

This year, something big also happened as for the first time ever there is information about battery packs that cost less than 100 dollars per kWh. However, this did not apply to passenger cars but to batteries for electric buses in China. Bloomberg NEF points out that the volume-weighted average price for Chinese electric buses is 105 dollars / kWh.

– It is a historic milestone to see that packing prices of less than 100 dollars / kWh are reported. In just a few years, we will see that the average price in the industry has passed this. But not only that, our analyzes show that even if the prices for raw materials return to the high level of 2018 – it would only delay the reduction of the average price to 100 dollars per kWh by two years. The industry is becoming increasingly resilient to changing raw material prices, where leading battery manufacturers have moved their positions in the value chain and invested in cathode products and even mines, says James Frith, lead author of the report, in a statement.

When it comes to battery-electric passenger cars, the volume-weighted average price is 126 dollars / kWh. With an average cell cost of 100 dollars / kWh, this indicates that the package excluding cells makes up 21 percent of the total price.

In the report, Bloomberg NEF writes that when you include all forms of batteries, ie for buses, cars, transport vehicles and stationary storage, the average price is expected to be 101 dollars / kWh in 2023. At about this time, car manufacturers are also expected to be able to produce and sell electric cars to the same price level as the corresponding fossil-fueled models. This without the margin being negatively affected.

Even though the analysis company says that the path to the 2023 goal is clear, the future thereafter is not crystal clear. The expectations are that the average price in 2030 will be as low as 58 dollars / kWh.

The reason for this is not that it would be impossible in any way, but that there are several different possible ways to get there. A promising alternative is batteries with solid electrolyte, something that Bloomberg NEF predicts will reduce production costs by as much as 40 percent compared to lithium-ion batteries.