Electric vehicle drivetrains can, at their simplest, be described as a combination of 3 key components. A battery, an inverter, and a traction motor. With these basic building blocks, vehicles as diverse as cars, buses, trucks, mopeds, and excavators can be designed and built to replace diesel vehicles. IDTechEx’s latest report, “Electric Vehicles: Land, Sea, and Air 2025-2045”, covers 11 key electric vehicle (EV) segments that are at various stages of electrification. The battery remains one of the key components of an EV, and vastly different performance, economic, and operational requirements necessitate a wide range of other batteries likely to be required for each sector.
IDTechEx’s report “Electric Vehicles: Land, Sea, and Air 2025-2045” covers 11 diverse vehicle sectors. A range of peak motor outputs and battery capacities are shown here, emphasizing the diverse requirements for batteries across the transportation sector. Source: IDTechEx.
Lead acid (Pb): Low energy density but a cheap and a mature technology
While most of the discourse around EV batteries focuses on Li-ion, IDTechEx research indicates that lead-acid batteries are extensively used in micromobility applications. Electric two-wheelers (E2W) and electric three-wheelers (E3W) are extremely popular in China, India, and South-East Asia where their low costs and small form factor make them ideal for navigating dense urban environments. In fact, according to IDTechEx, electric micromobility (E2W, E3W, microcars) sold more units than electric cars did in 2024. Lead-acid is cheap and readily available but has a drastically lower energy density than lithium-type batteries. Still, for now, its low cost wins out, leading to extensive adoption of lead-acid in electric micromobility. IDTechEx expects policy changes in major markets (such as China and India) to encourage lithium-ion adoption, but lead-acid is likely to retain a sizeable market share going forward. Micromobility is the only EV sector that utilizes this decades-old battery technology at scale.
Sectors to watch: E2W, E3W
Lithium-ion phosphate (LFP): Where cost is king, and range is secondary
Vehicle range has been seen as one of the key challenges EVs face since their introduction to the market. This has led to the industry developing and implementing larger and higher energy density batteries, to tackle this perceived shortcoming. However, IDTechEx research has tracked a growing emergence of lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) in diverse sectors. Compared with a typical nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery, LFP uses cheaper base materials to deliver a more affordable cell at the expense of energy density. In the car market, this has been spearheaded by the likes of BYD in China, who have introduced novel battery pack designs to maximize the performance of LFP while retaining the cost advantages, leading to cheaper vehicles. In the commercial world, vehicles such as trucks, buses, and vans rely on a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than diesel equivalents to be adopted en masse. For many of these vehicles, their larger size allows more LFP to be integrated into the vehicle, offsetting the range penalty (but equally incurring a weight penalty). Sectors and regions remain split, with IDTechEx reporting that the electric bus market is almost entirely LFP, while the European bus market is far more split at around one-third LFP and the remainder NMC/NCA.
Sectors to watch: Low-cost economy cars, buses, trucks, vans
Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC): Where performance is key
Until recently, the dominant cathode of choice in the electric car market, nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathodes offer the highest energy densities of any commercially available cells today. This makes them ideal choices for applications where range is key. This includes premium/performance-oriented cars, where customers desire greater vehicle ranges. Cars are not the only vehicles with range requirements. Some trucks and buses with set routes will also require the energy-dense NMC, as well as certain battery electric trains that must operate over lengthy sections off unelectrified tracks. Other sectors include where the total vehicle weight must be limited for operational reasons, such as the emerging electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL).
Sectors to watch: Premium cars, long-haul buses/trucks, electric trains, eVTOL
Lithium titanate oxide: Where cycle life is the priority
Energy density is only one aspect of a battery’s performance. Cycle life also varies dramatically between different chemistries. For a car, a range of 350km and a cycle life of 1,000 would theoretically give a battery lifetime of 350,000 km (not accounting for SoC degradation). This is well above the typical requirements of a car however, IDTechEx research highlights several EV applications where this may not be enough. Mining haul trucks are expected to be some of the largest land vehicles to electrify (requiring up to 1 MWh /1,000 kWh in battery capacity). Due to the demanding operational requirements, multiple batteries are expected to be required throughout a vehicle’s lifetime. In these applications, ultra-high cycle life chemistries (such as lithium-titanate oxide, and LTO) become favorable even at the expense of cell density.
Sectors to watch: Mining haul trucks, and certain construction vehicles.
Beyond currently available batteries – commercial aviation
The battery industry is constantly advancing, with improved cell densities, safer chemistries, and lower production costs, which have been a constant trend over the last several years. Some aspects of transportation remain un-electrifiable with today’s technology. While “Electric Vehicles: Land, Sea, and Air 2025-2045” reports on the feasibility of electrifying general aviation with today’s batteries, commercial narrow and wide-body remain beyond the capabilities of current technologies. Batteries are simply too heavy for the strict takeoff weight limits for most planes, with significant improvements at a Wh/kg level required. The unique duty cycle of planes also poses a challenge, with enormous high-power pulses required at takeoff and landing.
Electric vehicles come in many shapes and sizes, and with diverse duty cycles. It follows that a range of batteries will continue to serve these sectors, and it is unlikely that EV batteries will adopt a ‘one-size fits all’ approach.
Discussion about this post