Buyers around the world are lining up to purchase electric vehicles this year even with sticker prices surging.
This is flipping the script on 15 years of conventional car industry wisdom that EV sales would break out only after battery costs dropped below a threshold that was always just over the horizon.
This year, EV demand has stayed strong even as the average cost of lithium-ion battery cells soared to an estimated $160 per kilowatt-hour in the first quarter from $105 last year.
Costs rose due to supply chain disruption, sanctions on Russian metals and investor speculation.
For a smaller vehicle like the Hongguang Mini, the best-selling EV in China, the higher battery costs added almost $1,500, equal to 30 per cent of the sticker price.
But petrol and diesel costs for internal combustion vehicles have also risen sharply since Russia's military offensive in Ukraine began, and experts noted that environmental concerns are pushing more buyers to choose EVs despite the volatile economics.
Manufacturers from Tesla to SAIC-GM-Wuling, which makes the Hongguang Mini, have passed higher costs on to consumers with double-digit price increases for EVs.
More may be coming. Margins in the battery industry are already wafer thin, so "rising costs will have to be passed on to car makers", says Andy Palmer, chairman of Slovak EV battery maker InoBat.
Vehicle manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz will likely shift increases to customers if their raw material prices keep rising.
"We need to keep margins," chief technology officer Markus Schaefer told Reuters.
But EV shoppers have so far been undeterred. Global EV sales in the first quarter jumped nearly 120 per cent, estimates by EV-volumes.com suggest.
China’s Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto delivered record EV sales in March. Tesla delivered a record 310,000 EVs in the first quarter.
“There is a different kind of tipping point that we seem to have hit — an emotional or psychological tipping point among consumers,” said Venkat Srinivasan, director of the Centre for Collaborative Energy Storage Science at the US government’s Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago.
"More and more people" would buy EVs "notwithstanding the cost of the battery and the vehicle", he said.
This surge in battery costs could be a blip in the long-term trend in which technology improvements and growing production pushed costs down for three straight decades.
Industry data showed that the $105 per kWh average cost in 2021 was down nearly 99 per cent from more than $7,500 in 1991.
Experts say battery costs could stay elevated for the next year or so, but then another big drop is probably in store as big-ticket investments by car makers and suppliers in mining, refining and battery cell production, and a move to diversify raw material sources, tip the balance from shortage to surplus.
"It's like a bubble — and for that bubble to settle down it's going to be at least the end of 2023," said consultant Prabhakar Patil, a former LG Chem executive.
British battery company Britishvolt is due to launch battery production at a 45 gigawatt-hour plant in north-east England in 2024. Chief strategy officer Isobel Sheldon says the advice the company is getting from raw material suppliers is “don’t fix your prices now, wait for the next 12 months and fix the prices then because everything will be on a more even keel”.
“This oversecuring of resources should be behind us by then,” she says.
The industry has long been awaiting the battery cell cost threshold of $100 per kWh as a signal EVs were reaching price parity with fossil-fuel equivalents.
But with petrol prices soaring and consumer preferences changing, that may no longer matter as much, analysts say.
EV demand in China and other markets "is going up faster than people thought — faster than the supply of materials" for EV batteries, said Stan Whittingham, a co-inventor of lithium-ion batteries and a 2019 Nobel laureate.
There is a different kind of tipping point that we seem to have hit — an emotional or psychological tipping point among consumers
Venkat Srinivasan,
director, Centre for Collaborative Energy Storage Science
Concern about the environment and climate also has motivated buyers, especially younger ones, to choose EVs over those that burn fossil fuels, said Chris Burns, chief executive of Novonix, a Halifax-based battery materials supplier.
“Many younger people entering the market are making buying decisions beyond simple economics and are saying they will only drive an EV because they are better for the planet,” Mr Burns says.
“They are making the plunge even though it would be cheaper" to drive a fuel-powered car.
“I don’t think we will stop seeing reports trying to show a trend in battery prices down towards $60 or $80 a kWh as aspirational targets, but it is possible that those may never get met,” he says.
“However, it doesn’t mean that EV adoption will not rise.”
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
In the Restaurant: Society in Four Courses
Christoph Ribbat
Translated by Jamie Searle Romanelli
Pushkin Press
THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
Monday's results
- UAE beat Bahrain by 51 runs
- Qatar beat Maldives by 44 runs
- Saudi Arabia beat Kuwait by seven wickets
Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
The Two Popes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce
Four out of five stars
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
If you go
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Santiago, via Sao Paolo cost from Dh5,295 with Emirates.
The trip
A five-day trip (not including two days of flight travel) was split between Santiago and in Puerto Varas, with more time spent in the later where excursions were organised by TurisTour.
When to go
The summer months, from December to February are best though there is beauty in each season
Stage 2
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 4:18:30
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:06
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:06
4. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:06
5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:08
BLACK%20ADAM
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Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Top%2010%20most%20competitive%20economies
%3Cp%3E1.%20Singapore%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Switzerland%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Denmark%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%20Ireland%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%20Hong%20Kong%0D%3Cbr%3E6.%20Sweden%0D%3Cbr%3E7.%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E8.%20Taiwan%0D%3Cbr%3E9.%20Netherlands%0D%3Cbr%3E10.%20Norway%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
Results:
Men’s wheelchair 200m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 27.14; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 27.81; 3. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 27.81.