Just as electric vehicle production and adoption move into higher gear, EV battery prices are up for the first time since BloombergNEF started tracking the segment.

The research provider reported today that a combination of inflation and rising raw material and battery component prices have brought about the first increase in lithium-ion battery pack prices since its first report on them in 2010.

Prices for the packs previously declined each year of BNEF’s report as production rose. Now volume-weighted average prices across all sectors have risen 7% year-over-year to $151 per kilowatt hour. It said it expects prices will be similar next year.

Regionally, battery pack prices were the least expensive in China, a major producer of EV batteries and components.

The trend, which threatens to scuttle goals of making EV prices competitive with those of combustion-engine vehicles, outpaced increased adoption of lower-cost chemistries, such as lithium iron phosphate, BNEF said.

The increase comes as the U.S. makes a multipronged effort to increase EV battery and battery component production in North America in order to meet EV production goals to help curb global warming and to wean the market off Asian suppliers, particularly those in China.

BNEF said it expects battery prices to fall again in 2024 as more lithium extraction and refining capacity comes online.

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