US EV demand shift and BESS growth: Who deployed the most batteries in 2025?

Overall lithium ion battery demand increased by 30% year-on-year to over 1.6TWh in 2025, compared to 1.3TWh in 2024, and the largest four manufacturers meeting that demand remained at the top of the rankings.

There have been shifts among the next-largest players, however, as increased battery energy stationary storage (BESS) demand and a dip in US electric vehicle (EV) sales growth have affected some South Korean firms in particular.

Growing BESS demand boosts Chinese firms

CATL, BYD, LG Energy Solution and China Aviation Lithium Battery (CALB) have stayed in the top four, fulfilling over 60% of EV and BESS demand. EVE Energy, much of whose supply went to BESS applications, climbed from eighth to fourth place. Growth in EV demand for Samsung SDI and Panasonic, who came in at fifth and sixth respectively in 2024, did not stop them from dropping to eighth and ninth in 2025.

Significantly, this is the first year when a top ten cell supplier made that list solely through BESS production, with Hithium climbing to tenth place without supplying EV cells. This is a trend Benchmark expects to continue as Hithium and smaller BESS player Cornex, which came in at 16^th, carry out their expansion plans in the coming years. CATL, meanwhile, remained the largest BESS supplier despite slower growth in 2025 compared to 2024.

South Korean players take US EV hit

Chinese companies like EVE and Gotion have climbed the ranks as South Korean players like Samsung SDI – which did nevertheless produce 10GWh more than in 2024 – and EV battery maker SK On have fallen. SK On registered the largest drop, from seventh to 12^th place, as it reduced production.

The US, a major export market for South Korean firms, saw slower EV demand growth as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) reduced government support for the sector and new tariffs on imports were implemented.

South Korean players are expected to grow in 2026 as they increase their production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells after focusing until now on nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) chemistries, which are less utilised in BESS installations.