Exxon Making a Move Into The EV Battery Business

Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. oil and gas company, is taking another step into the electric vehicle supply chain with a newly announced acquisition aimed at producing graphite, one of the most essential ingredients in lithium-ion batteries. The deal, reported on September 9, 2025 by the New York Times, will give Exxon ownership of a production facility, a research center, and other key assets from Chicago-based Superior Graphite for an undisclosed price. This transaction highlights Exxon’s effort to diversify beyond oil and gas by building a foothold in advanced materials needed to power electric cars, trucks, and large-scale energy storage systems.

Graphite, which is an important element of a lithium-ion battery, comes in two forms: mined graphite and synthetic graphite. Exxon intends to produce the latter, betting its proprietary technologies can make batteries charge faster and increase driving range by as much as 30 percent.

The company is targeting commercial-scale production by 2029. Alongside graphite, Exxon is also developing lithium extraction projects from underground brine in southwest Arkansas, although its production timeline has already slipped from 2027 to 2028. CEO Darren Woods has emphasized the importance of lowering costs to make lithium projects viable, while Vice President Dave Andrew noted that battery demand, despite near-term fluctuations, will expand significantly over the long term.

Exxon is entering this space at a complicated moment. The U.S. battery industry faces obstacles such as weaker-than-expected EV sales, new tariffs on imported materials, and the expiration next month of a $7,500 federal tax credit that has been propping up EV adoption. Yet the company sees opportunity in reshaping the supply chain, particularly since China currently dominates both the production and processing of graphite. By establishing domestic manufacturing capacity, Exxon hopes to meet political and financial priorities in the U.S. to reduce reliance on foreign sources and strengthen national energy security.

The oil giant has some history with batteries. An Exxon scientist was part of the team that developed the first working lithium-ion battery in the 1970s, later winning a Nobel Prize for the achievement. However, management abandoned the project decades ago, fearing the market was too small. Now, Exxon is returning to the technology, motivated by surging interest in EVs, energy storage, and related fields like powering data centers. Even so, delays in lithium development and cautious investment strategies illustrate the risks ahead. Whether Exxon will follow through and succeed in building a large-scale business around battery materials remains uncertain, but its recent acquisitions mark a notable shift in strategy as it seeks a role in the clean energy transition.

Shell and BP Lead the Electric Vehicle Push Among Oil Giants

When it comes to the global energy transition, oil majors are often criticized for moving too slowly. Yet two of the biggest names in fossil fuels, Shell and BP, are the front-runners among oil giants in the race to build electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and services.

Both companies see EV charging not as a side project, but as a growth engine for the decades ahead. Shell has rolled out one of the largest charging networks in Europe, with thousands of fast-charging points already live and plans to scale to over 200,000 globally by 2030. The company is actively converting traditional gas stations into EV hubs, offering drivers rapid charging alongside amenities like coffee shops and convenience stores.

BP, through its BP Pulse brand, is also rapidly expanding, with a goal of deploying more than 100,000 chargers by 2030. BP has been making strategic acquisitions in software and hardware companies to strengthen its charging platform and improve the customer experience.

In July, EVinfo.net reported that bp pulse opened its largest EV charging hub in the United States. Located just two miles from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the location features 48 ultrafast charging bays, equipped with a mix of 400kW and 150kW DC fast chargers.

What makes Shell and BP stand out is not just the scale of their ambitions, but the seriousness of their integration into long-term business strategies. For decades, both firms have relied on fuel retailing for steady profits. Now, they are reshaping those same assets into EV-ready infrastructure, betting that the service-station model can evolve with the needs of electric drivers.

The timing matters. While EV sales growth has slowed in some regions, the long-term trajectory remains strong. BloombergNEF projects that EVs will make up more than half of global passenger car sales by 2038. For oil majors facing structural decline in gasoline demand, EV charging represents not just diversification but survival.

Exxon Mobil and Chevron, by comparison, have taken smaller steps. Exxon has begun exploring battery materials like lithium and graphite, while Chevron has invested modestly in charging startups, but neither has made the kind of sweeping network commitments seen from Shell and BP. This leadership gap highlights a broader truth: among the oil giants, Shell and BP are the most aggressive in embracing electrification as a core pillar of their future.

As governments tighten emissions policies and automakers phase out combustion engines, the need for accessible, reliable charging will only accelerate. Shell and BP’s early moves may well give them a head start in capturing a critical share of tomorrow’s transportation market, one powered not by gasoline, but by electrons.

EVinfo.net’s Take

Among all oil companies, Shell and BP are the wisest. Ernst & Young Global Limited (EY) predicted that the milestone of BEVs reaching 50% of light-vehicle sales in the United States is expected in 2039, although EV.info.net predicts this will happen 2035-2036.

The global auto market has now reached a historic point: electrified vehicles accounted for 43% of all new car sales worldwide in Q1 2025, according to JATO data reported by Visual Capitalist. That’s a remarkable jump from only 9% in 2019, underscoring how quickly the transition away from internal combustion engines is accelerating.

Oil companies have other sources of income rather than just planet-harming gasoline for vehicles, but if they don’t want to lose all the vehicle fueling revenue, they’d better get on the ball and get with the EV program. Our clean, environmentally-friendly transportation future is electric, and those companies best prepared for this historic, worldwide, fast-moving change will win.