As of last year, battery cell production reached 2.2 terawatt-hours, or TWh, and a gigafactory capacity of 4.8TWh, according to Benchmark’s Battery & Gigafactory Service. 

Gigafactories are industrial facilities that mass-produce batteries for electric vehicles, including hybrids and fully electric models. For reference, a factory with a 1 gigawatt hour, or GWh, capacity can produce enough batteries for about 17,000 vehicles. 

Between 2020 and 2025, gigafactory capacity grew six-fold and is set to grow another 118% by 2030, Benchmark said. And over the course of the past five years, the top five battery cell producers have shifted. 

In 2020, South Korean cell maker LG Energy Solutions, or LGES, was No. 1 in production. At the time, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited, or CATL, and BYD Co. Limited were the only two Chinese companies in the top five. Japan’s Panasonic and South Korea’s Samsung SDI rounded out the list, the top five accounting for half of the global cell production capacity.

But by 2025 China had jumped to hold the top two spots through CATL and BYD. The country commanded 86% of global production. LGES dropped to third place and was the only non-Chinese producer in the top five. However, the concentration of global cell production capacity by the top five dropped from 50% to 44%. Of that percentage, CATL accounted for over 25% of production and 17% of global capacity. 

Looking to the next five years, Benchmark predicts that Chinese companies will lead with 77% of the 2030 gigafactory pipeline. CATL is predicted to stay in the No. 1 position, and the top five producers are projected to account for one-third of global capacity. 

Where does that leave the U.S.? According to a report by India-based market research provider Mordor Intelligence, the U.S. EV battery manufacturing market size is estimated at $17.94 billion, up from $16.36 billion last year. And it predicts a growth rate of nearly 10% by 2031 to $28.46 billion.