Who's Ramping Up R&D Investment in Lithium-Ion Batteries?

Summary

Amid the global energy transition and increasing demand from both the electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage sectors, the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery industry has entered an era of fierce technology-driven competition. Success hinges on breakthroughs in battery materials, innovations in core technologies and advancements in production processes. To secure market leadership, enterprises must continuously invest in research and development (R&D).

We have tracked the R&D investments of dozens of key publicly-listed companies worldwide whose core revenues come from the Li-ion battery business. Our study highlights the scale of R&D spending, growth rates and the R&D priorities of 10 leading and fastest-growing enterprises from 2022 to 2024. The findings provide insights into the evolving competition pattern and technology roadmap shaping the industry.

Leading enterprises take the helm amid expansion of R&D investment

In terms of scale, there were 10 enterprises that each invested more than $100 million annually in R&D over the past three years. Collectively, their 2024 R&D expenditure exceeded $6 billion, up by nearly 17% from around $5.13 billion in 2022. This steady expansion underscores the industry’s growing emphasis on R&D and innovation. Facing both downward pressure on material costs and growing performance requirements (such as higher energy density, longer cycle life and ultra-fast charging), companies are ramping up R&D spending to establish technical barriers that will help them stay competitive and comply with evolving green energy policies.

At the company-level, R&D spending is concentrating around the largest players. Global industry leader, CATL has maintained a commanding lead, with annual R&D investment exceeding $2 billion each year from 2022 to 2024. This amount is equivalent to the combined spending of the next four largest companies – Samsung SDI, LGES, Sunwoda and EVE Energy. CATL’s dominance reflects not only its enormous revenue base, but also its strategic focus on consolidating technological advantages and accelerating commercialization of new markets such as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

The three South Korean powerhouses–Samsung SDI, LGES and SK On–also demonstrate robust R&D capabilities. Samsung SDI stands out with the highest investment among the three, spending close to $1 billion in 2024, second only to CATL. Its R&D portfolio spans EV batteries, energy storage systems and power tool batteries. LGES invested around $800 million in 2024, targeting cell and system development for multiple applications, as well as deploying AI and smart manufacturing technologies.

Among China’s rising players, Sunwoda, EVE Energy and Gotion High-Tech make up the "second tier." Each invested between $400 million and $500 million in 2024, with growth rates of 13.7%, 26.7% and 13.2% respectively compared with 2022.

Growing enterprises accelerate R&D investment, while market leaders hold steady

When viewed through the lens of compound annual growth rate (CAGR), emerging players are ramping-up R&D investment much faster than incumbents, reflecting divergent strategies based on corporate maturity.

China-based CALB recorded the fastest CAGR at 41.3% over the three-year period, lifting its R&D spending from around $100 million in 2022 to roughly $197 million in 2024, considerably above the industry average. In 2024, its research focused on advanced materials, high-performance batteries, next-generation technologies, advanced manufacturing and life-cycle management.

Chinese company COSMX followed closely with a CAGR of 32.1%, boosting R&D from $116 million in 2022 to $203 million in 2024. As a leader in the consumer battery space, its rapidly growing R&D outlay underpins business diversification. COSMX’s 2024 projects included multiple lithium-ion battery platforms designed for a range of applications (such as drones) and distinct performance features (including flash charging, high safety and ultra-fast charging).

In contrast, leading companies experienced steadier growth. CATL posted a three-year CAGR of 6.0%, reflecting a “large and stable” R&D strategy given its massive spending base. Samsung SDI and LGES grew slightly faster, with CAGRs of 6.9% and 8.5% respectively, moderately accelerating investment to counter competition from Chinese rivals.

REPT was the only one of the 10 to record a decline in R&D investment over the three-year period, with a CAGR of -2.6%. Although it increased spending in 2023 to expand into multiple areas – including upgrades to LFP and NCM batteries, solid-state batteries, sodium-ion batteries and recycling technologies – persistent operating losses and cash flow pressures appear to have forced a pullback in 2024 as part of cost control measures.

Two companies stand out. COSMX consistently allocated more than 8% of revenue to R&D and exceeded 10% from 2023 to 2024, far above the industry average. This high intensity reflects the short product cycles and fast pace of innovation in consumer electronics batteries, where constant improvements in size, weight and charging speed are essential to meet customer demand. Gotion High-Tech reached 10.5% in 2022 and, although the ratio slipped slightly in subsequent years, it remained above 8%. The company continues to invest heavily in upgrading cell performance across diverse applications including energy storage, commercial vehicles and passenger cars.

Performance breakthroughs, scenario expansion and forward-looking technologies

A review of 2024 R&D programs across the 10 enterprises shows three main thrusts: performance breakthroughs, application expansion and next-generation technologies.

• Performance improvements remain at the core, with every company working to enhance key metrics such as energy density, ultra-fast charging, long cycle life and wide-temperature adaptability. Material innovation is central to these efforts, with heavy investment in cathodes and anodes (high-nickel, silicon-based), electrolytes (including solid-state) and separators. For example, LGES’s high-nickel cathode paired with silicon anodes and SK On’s low-resistance, high-capacity materials both follow the pathway of materials -> cells -> performance, strengthening product competitiveness.
• Application expansion is another priority, as companies extend beyond traditional EVs, energy storage and 3C electronics into new arenas, with eVTOL aircraft, medical devices and robotics; all emerging areas of focus. EVE Energy’s “full-scenario battery” strategy, Samsung SDI’s continued diversification into power tools and IT batteries and CATL’s move from vehicle batteries into the eVTOL aircraft market; all exemplify this trend.
• Forward-looking technologies are also commanding significant investment. With uncertainty over which technology will prove popular in the future, companies are hedging their bets by advancing solid-state and sodium-ion batteries in parallel. Firms such as EVE Energy, Sunwoda, CALB, CATL and LGES are all pursuing these next-generation platforms. At the same time, integration with AI, big data and smart manufacturing is becoming a major theme of R&D investment, enhancing efficiency, product quality and production intelligence.

Final thoughts

As the Li-ion battery industry shifts focus from capacity expansion to technological prowess, enterprises are prioritizing R&D to transform scale leadership into technological leadership. Industry leaders are using their capital strength to consolidate barriers and pioneer new applications, while rising challengers are carving out differentiated competitiveness through high-growth investment. Industry-wide, R&D intensity continues to climb, and innovation has become the decisive factor in long-term success.

Looking ahead, as solid-state and sodium-ion batteries inch closer to commercialization and new opportunities emerge in sectors such as eVTOL aircraft, R&D spending is expected to keep rising. Advances in materials and production processes will likely be the next frontier for innovation, shaping the trajectory of the industry’s future.