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EV makers counted on batteries getting cheaper; war changed the picture

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The chassis and battery pack of a Volkswagen AG (VW) ID.5 electric sports utility vehicle (eSUV) on the assembly line during a media tour of the automaker's electric automobile factory in Zwickau, Germany.

Enlarge / The chassis and battery pack of a Volkswagen AG (VW) ID. 5 electric sports utility vehicle (eSUV) on the assembly line during a media tour of the automaker’s electric automobile factory in Zwickau, Germany. (credit: Bloomberg | Getty Images)

The car industry’s multibillion-dollar bet on electric vehicles was built on a single premise: that batteries would carry on getting cheaper.

In 2019, Volkswagen executives even brandished charts predicting a steady decline in battery costs as they laid out their ambition to consign the combustion engine to history.

For years the industry was proved right: battery costs fell from $1, 000 per KWH for the first models more than a decade ago to about $130 in 2021, paving the way to making them affordable for middle-income families.

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