Electric Vehicle Lightweight Materials Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the electric vehicle lightweight materials market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global electric vehicle lightweight materials market reached a value of nearly $6.85 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.47% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $6.85 billion in 2023 to $22.63 billion in 2028 at a rate of 27.00%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 27.50% from 2028 and reach $76.25 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from strong economic growth in emerging markets, rising demand for electric vehicles, increase in fuel prices and increasing disposable income. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were infrastructure limitations.

Going forward, stringent emission regulations, focus on environmental concerns and sustainability, expansion of charging infrastructure, increasing urbanization and favorable government support will drive the growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the electric vehicle lightweight materials market in the future include supply chain disruptions.

The electric vehicle lightweight materials market is segmented by material type into metals and alloys, composites, plastics, elastomers and other material types. The metals and alloys market was the largest segment of the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by material type, accounting for 42.7% or $2.92 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the plastics segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by material type, at a CAGR of 28.57% during 2023-2028.

The electric vehicle lightweight materials market is segmented by vehicle type into passenger vehicle, utility vehicles (SUVs, MPVs, Compact SUVs), light commercial vehicles, medium and heavy-duty vehicles and buses and coaches. The passenger vehicle market was the largest segment of the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by vehicle type, accounting for 51.4% or $3.51 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the light commercial vehicles segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by vehicle type, at a CAGR of 34.17% during 2023-2028.

The electric vehicle lightweight materials market is segmented by application into body-in-white, battery, chassis and suspension, powertrains and closures, interiors and others applications. The body-in-white market was the largest segment of the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by application, accounting for 29.3% or $2.01 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the battery segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 33.59% during 2023-2028.

The electric vehicle lightweight materials market is segmented by propulsion type into battery electric vehicle, plug-in hybrid vehicle and fuel cell electric vehicle. The battery electric vehicle market was the largest segment of the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by propulsion type, accounting for 74% or $5.06 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the fuel cell electric vehicle segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by propulsion type, at a CAGR of 33.46% during 2023-2028.

Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market, accounting for 66% or $4.51 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by North America, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market will be North America and Asia-Pacific where growth will be at CAGRs of 29.28% and 27.20% respectively. These will be followed by Africa and Middle East where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 26.77% and 26.41% respectively.

The global electric vehicle lightweight materials market is fairly fragmented, with a large number of players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up 20.5% of the total market in 2023. SGL Carbon SE was the largest competitor with a 2.38% share of the market, followed by Evonik Industries AG with 2.32%, Teijin Limited with 2.31%, Toray Industries Inc. with 2.28%, LyondellBasell Industries Holdings B.V. with 2.27%, Covestro AG with 2.25%, Solvay S.A. with 1.91%, BASF SE with 1.80%, Lanxess AG with 1.69% and Hexcel Corporation with 1.29%.

The top opportunities in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by material type will arise in the metals and alloys segment, which will gain $6.04 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by vehicle type will arise in the utility vehicles (SUVs, MPVs, Compact SUVs) segment, which will gain $7.55 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by application will arise in the body-in-white segment, which will gain $5.45 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market segmented by propulsion type will arise in the battery electric vehicle segment, which will gain $11.41 billion of global annual sales by 2028The electric vehicle lightweight materials market size will gain the most in China at $7.54 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the electric vehicle lightweight materials market include focus on launch of aerogel particles for advanced thermal management in electric vehicle batteries, next-generation nonwoven fabric for safe electric vehicle batteries, strategic partnerships among major players to enhance product offerings.

Player-adopted strategies in the electric vehicle lightweight materials market include focuses on launching new products to enhance their business offerings, strategic partnerships to expand their business expertise and strategy focuses on new launches to expand their business expertise.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the electric vehicle lightweight materials companies to focus on innovative aerogel products for lightweight materials, focus on next-generation nonwoven fabrics for electric vehicle batteries, focus on strategic partnerships for lightweight materials development, focus on composites for electric vehicle lightweight materials, focus on light commercial vehicles for growth, focus on fuel cell electric vehicles for growth, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, provide competitively priced offerings, participate in trade shows and events, continue to use B2B promotions and focus on battery lightweight materials for growth.