Batteries: Key piece of the energy transition puzzle

Batteries have moved from a cyclical EV component to a strategic infrastructure asset. We see three megatrends—decarbonisation, AI and strategic autonomy—converging to elevate batteries' importance and provide a secular demand tailwind. Global battery demand rose from less than 200GWh in 2020 to almost 1,500GWh in 2025 and is forecast at c.5,500GWh by 2035, with growth broadening beyond passenger EVs into stationary storage, data centres, commercial EVs and robotics. Performance requirements are fragmenting across cost, energy density, safety, charging and duration, making chemistry selection and system-level engineering more important. Next-generation technologies—solid-state, sodium-ion, flow, metal-air and lithium-sulfur—will complement rather than replace lithium-ion, with adoption driven by application-specific needs;