Lithium Global BEV sales +8% YoY in May but -3% YTD YoY; China BEV penetration remains at 42%

Research evidence excerpt

Lithium Global BEV sales +8% YoY in May but -3% YTD YoY; China BEV penetration remains at 42%

J P M O R G A N Asia Pacific Equity Research

12 June 2026

Lithium

Global BEV sales +8% YoY in May but -3% YTD YoY;

China BEV penetration remains at 42%

Key takeaways from the May EV sales data: (1) Global BEV sales (China + EU Head of Australia Metals & Mining

AC+ US) rose 9% MoM to 938k units and are up 8% YoY but YTD remain down 3% Lyndon Fagan

vs 2025; global BEV penetration stood at 24% in May (vs 23% in Apr'26). (2) (61-2) 9003-8648

China BEV penetration remained elevated at 42% in May, with BEV sales rising lyndon.fagan@jpmorgan.com

10% MoM to 637k units and total EV (BEV+PHEV) penetration reaching 63%, the J.P. Morgan Securities Australia Limited

highest since August 2025. (3) US BEV sales rebounded 10% MoM to 86k units Metals & Mining

but are still down 25% YTD YoY; BEV penetration continued to stand at 6%. (4) Jonathon Sharp

EU-10 BEV sales increased 5% MoM to 214kt and remain up 32% YTD YoY; BEV (61 2) 9003-8312

penetration increased to 32% (from 24% in April). The EU remains the strongest jonathon.sharp@jpmorgan.com

J.P. Morgan Securities Australia Limited

region on country-level subsidy schemes and affordable mass EVs penetrating the

market. With the continued strength in the ESS market and the supply time lag, we Devwrat Vegad

(91-22) 6157-3608

see modest upward pressure in spodumene prices from here. Our top pick in the devwrat.vegad@jpmchase.com

lithium space is PLS. For more information on EV/PHEV sales, please see JPM’s J.P. Morgan Securities Australia Limited/ J.P.

Asia Battery/Autos research teams’ latest note here. Morgan India Private Limited

Zane Guo

(61-3) 9633-4020

zane.guo@jpmorgan.com

Figure 1: China vehicle sales vs. BEV sales

Branko Skocic