Yifei Li
China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry has experienced an unprecedented surge in production and global dominance. But a new challenge looms — the growing wave of decommissioned vehicles as EV batteries reach the end of their lifecycle.
This emerging trend is spawning a burgeoning sub-market for recycling and repurposing used batteries. The critical question is whether China is prepared to extend its EV leadership into the post-consumer segment of the supply chain.
When record-keeping began in 2012, China produced just 13,000 EVs. By 2018, that figure grew nearly tenfold to 115,000 and expanded another tenfold to 1.2 million in 2024. This meteoric rise is widely attributed to state-backed policies, including investments in research and development, tax rebates and infrastructural subsidies. As of October 2024, Chinese firms dominate 76 per cent of the global EV market, making China the undisputed leader in the sector.
At first glance, China appears well-positioned to lead in battery recycling. Yet the very factors that drove its rapid ascent in EV manufacturing — speed, scale, competitiveness and technological sophistication — are also introducing unique hurdles to its expansion into this market segment.
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