Lithium Battery Raw Material Prices Rise, EV Prices Set to Increase

KatadataOTO – Consumers of electric cars must be prepared to spend more in 2026. Because the price of raw materials for lithium batteries is set to rise.

As reported by Carnewschina on Monday (15/12). The raw material producers for power storage have just made an announcement.

“The price increase is due to the rising cost of upstream raw materials and a surge in demand driven by the convergence of the global energy transition,” wrote the online media.

It was mentioned that Hunan Yuneng New Energy, a major supplier of lithium-ion battery cathode materials in China, will raise prices on January 1, 2026.

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Processing costs for the entire range of lithium iron phosphate products will be hiked by 3,000 yuan or around Rp 7 million per ton, excluding tax.

On the other hand, a similar move was also made by Dejia Energy. They announced that on December 16, 2025, battery prices will also increase by 15 percent.

Of course, this situation is inseparable from the soaring price of raw materials in China. Such as the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate.

It is now traded at 120,000 yuan or around Rp 28.2 million per ton, a jump from the previous 55,000 yuan, equivalent to Rp 12.9 million per ton.

Furthermore, cobalt oxide, used as a cathode in lithium-ion batteries, is traded from 140,000 yuan or around Rp 33 million per ton to 350,000 yuan, equivalent to Rp 82.5 million per ton in November 2025.

Meanwhile, lithium carbonate has seen an increase to 94,000 yuan, equivalent to Rp 22.1 million per ton last month.

Followed by lithium iron phosphate cathode material, at around 2,300 yuan to 2,500 yuan or Rp 5.4 million to Rp 5.8 million per ton.

As a result, manufacturers have to spend more to produce Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries. This will in turn have an impact on the market.

The prices of electric cars like BYD, Chery, Wuling, and others are predicted to soar next year.

Photo: KatadataOTO

This becomes a new challenge for the automotive industry, considering the global economic situation is still unstable.

Electric car manufacturers from China must prepare various new strategies to reduce their product production costs.

This way, consumers will still be willing to buy electric four-wheeled vehicles in 2026, despite the price increase.