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In 2009, the cost for lithium-ion plug-in vehicle batteries was about $1,000 per kilowatt-hour (kW-hr) and plug-in vehicle sales were negligible. The first mass-marketed plug-in vehicles were introduced just prior to 2011, when the cost of batteries was nearing $600 per kW-hr. Since that time, battery costs have continued to fall and more plug-in vehicles have entered the market. From 2009 to 2014 the cost of batteries dropped by 71% while cumulative sales of plug-in vehicles rose to nearly 300,000 vehicles during that time.
Battery Costs versus Plug-in Vehicle Sales, 2009-2014
Supporting Information
| Year | U.S. EV Deployment (Cumulative Sales of Plug-in Vehicles) | U.S. EV Battery Costs (Dollars per Kilowatt-hour for a Lithium-ion Battery) |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 0 | $1,000 |
| 2010 | 0 | $753 |
| 2011 | 17,500 | $580 |
| 2012 | 50,000 | $444 |
| 2013 | 170,000 | $324 |
| 2014 | 290,000 | $289 |
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Revolution…Now - The Future Arrives for Five Clean Energy Technologies – 2015 Update, November 2015, p. 14. | ||