Electric Truck Battery Demand Increased More Than 70% Last Year, Future Is Uncertain
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Electric trucks aren't all that green, aren't that practical, and aren't cheap. Still, a market exists for pickups like the Ford F-150 Lightning, and it grew big time last year. The International Energy Agency reports that in 2024, the demand for electric truck batteries grew by more than 70% compared to 2023. That trend might not continue.
IEA data shows that in 2023, electric truck battery demand sat at 14 gigawatt-hours; it was up to 24 gigawatt-hours in 2024. That data mostly tracks with the sales figures of top EV pickups like the aforementioned F-150 Lightning, which leapt from 24,165 units sold in 2023 to 33,510 last year—a roughly 39% increase. The Blue Oval alone doesn't make up the difference, but you also have to factor in new vehicles that either went on sale late in 2023 or early in 2024. Undeniably, the biggest influence was is the Tesla Cybertruck, with approximately 39,000 registrations in its first full sales year.
Vehicle sales are a key factor in overall battery demand, though they aren't all that matters. Battery capacity is crucial, and it also varies greatly across the board. While a Tesla Cybertruck can be had with a 123-kilowatt-hour battery pack, the Chevy Silverado EV can be packaged with a 200-kWh pack. It doesn't take as many Silverado EVs to equal the same battery demand as a parking lot full of Cybertrucks.
Electric pickup sales are already sliding in 2025. The Cybertruck is pacing for fewer than 30,000 sales this year based on first-quarter figures, and while the F-150 Lightning leads it slightly, it doesn't look likely to exceed last year's performance. The Silverado EV and its GMC Sierra EV twins are climbing, though not at a great enough pace to offset the fall of other models.
Other categories of EV battery demand were on the rise in 2024, too, including a big leap for light-duty vehicles. That alone isn't surprising, considering smaller passenger EVs are the biggest relevant market by far, but the jump from 713 gWh in 2023 to 884 gWh last year represents a 24% increase. It's a reminder that electric trucks are but a small piece of the larger EV pie, and that seems likely to be the case again in 2025.
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