More than 21 million electric vehicles were sold worldwide in 2025, one in every four cars, according to International Energy Agency data. Every one of them runs on a lithium-ion pack.
The IEA says 4 million EVs sold in the first quarter of 2025 alone, up 35 percent on the year before. Battery demand has followed. EVs consumed more than 950 GWh of batteries in 2024, a 25 percent rise on the previous year, and the energy sector as a whole needed more than 1 TWh for the first time.
Why this chemistry won
Lithium-ion cells store more energy than the alternatives, weigh less and last longer, which is what lets a car travel farther between charges. The industry puts the life of an EV pack at 8 to 15 years. Energy density has been improving at roughly 5 to 8 percent a year over the past decade, and volumetric energy density rose more than eightfold between 2008 and 2020.
Charging has caught up too. Newer packs accept power much faster than their predecessors, which makes long trips practical. Public charging points passed 1.3 million worldwide in 2024, a 30 percent increase in a single year, the IEA reports.
What comes next
Manufacturers are still reworking the cell. LFP and NMC chemistries are in wide development, as are solid-state designs that could be safer and more efficient. Researchers are also looking at recycling methods that recover lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper from spent packs while relying less on critical materials.
The open problems are well known. Sourcing raw materials, recycling, building out charging stations and keeping packs from overheating all remain on the list.
