The race for a better EV battery

John A. Cook

CIM

Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, Co-head of Mackenzie Greenchip Team

Mackenzie Greenchip Team

Gregory Payne

PhD, CFA

Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, Co-head of Mackenzie Greenchip Team

Mackenzie Greenchip Team

Last year an astonishing 10.5 million electric vehicles (EVs) were sold globally. Some believe EVs will account for as much as 50% of the market by 2040. There is zero chance we’ll meet these targets, however, without better batteries – much better.

First, they will need to cost less. For almost a decade, declining prices were the norm but last year inflation also hit battery manufacturers hard – average battery pack prices rose from $141 per kilowatt hour (kWh) to $152/kWh. Sector analysts generally agree batteries need to cost less than $100/kWh for EVs to be economically competitive with gasoline powered cars. The second improvement needed is battery density, or the maximum driving range for a given battery pack weight. The final challenges are related to charging: safety, speed of charging, and number of charges before functional degradation (currently around 3,000 cycles). 

We take a deep dive into the battery structure and how this all works to understand the opportunities and challenges in the sustainability space.

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About the authors

John A. Cook

CIM

Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, Co-head of Mackenzie Greenchip Team

Mackenzie Greenchip Team

Joined Mackenzie in 2021; investment experience since 1991.

John brings more than 30 years of experience across mutual funds, venture capital and social finance. Before co-founding Greenchip in 2007, he served as president of one of Canada’s largest innovation hubs and held several executive positions with Canadian mutual fund companies.

John earned a BA from Queen’s University and holds the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) designation.

Gregory Payne

PhD, CFA

Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, Co-head of Mackenzie Greenchip Team

Mackenzie Greenchip Team

Joined Mackenzie in 2021; investment experience since 1999.

Greg has more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry, including over a decade focused on environmental sectors. Before co-founding Greenchip in 2007, he managed retail and institutional assets at a large capital management firm.

Greg earned an Honours BSc in Statistics and an MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Toronto.