United States (US)  Electric Vehicle Fluids (Heat Transfer, Break, Greece, Drive System) Market Overview, 2027

The United States market for electric vehicles fluid segment ranks third after the Asia-Pacific (excluding China) and China regions. Electric vehicles are being produced on a large scale due to environmental concerns over CO2 and nitrogen oxide emissions, which lead to great quantities of pollution due to traditional internal combustion engines (ICE) in traditional fuel-based vehicles. But the fluid and lubricant markets have just started to gain momentum. From the recent few years, fluid markets targeted specifically for electric vehicles based on various types, such as passenger and commercial, and many other types, are being grown at a great speed, seeing the greater trend of growth of electric vehicles as both segments are inter-related. US-based companies such as Valvoline Inc., Shell, Motul, Petronas, and Exxon-Mobil have started working towards specially designed fluids particularly suited for electric vehicles. The EV fluids required are different from the conventional lubricants, including engine oils, because the battery and electric motor are present in addition to the engine in the case of PHEVs and HEVs, while the only battery is present in the case of BEVs.

According to the report titled "United States (US) Electric Vehicle Fluids (Heat Transfer, Break, Greece, Drive System) Market Overview, 2027", published by Actual Market Research (ActualMR), the electric vehicle fluid market in the US is expected to grow at more than 27% CAGR during the forecasted period. The lubricants and fluids market is further bifurcated into segments based on product types, propulsion types, and vehicle types. Traditional fluids of Internal Combustion Engines are not considered suitable for Electric vehicles as they cause problems such as corrosion of parts in electric vehicles and other viscosity related problems which affect the life of the product and degrades its value. The electric vehicle fluids, such as heat transfer fluid based on product type, are used for controlling the temperature of the electric vehicle’s battery and power electronics. The grease and brake fluids are used as sealants to minimize leakage and to improve the reliability and performance of hydraulic brakes in electric vehicles, respectively. The drive system fluids are used for efficient transmission and energy loss reduction in drivetrain systems. The heat transfer fluids are leading the market segment with over 75% market share are forecasted to retain its dominant position in the future years. The drive system fluids are expected to remain second dominant after heat transfer fluids with over 20% market share in 2021.

According to the report, the fluid market is divided in to Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). BEVs have a dominant position in the market share, capturing about 47% of the market share in 2021, and they are expected to retain their dominant position during the forecasted period with over 58% of the market share. The reasons attributable to this are government initiatives and subsidies towards environmental concerns arising from traditional engine-based fuel vehicles. BEVs fully operate on electrical batteries and motors rather than any engine, which supports the zero emission policy of the government. Though the end performance and range are not available in BEVs, but constant efforts are being made in that direction to improve the efficiencies of BEVs and develop the necessary charging station infrastructure for them. As BEVs do not use combustion engines, they have very less requirement for fluids and their adoption rate among the majority of the population is very high. HEVs have both an engine as well as a battery source, so fluid requirements in these types of electric vehicles are high in comparison to others, which is the major factor behind the growth of the electric vehicle fluid market in recent years.

The electric vehicle fluid market based on vehicle type is segregated into passenger and commercial types of electric vehicles. Passenger vehicles have penetrated early in the market, so they have a significant amount of market share of around 91% and have a dominant position in the market. It is expected to retain its dominant position during the forecasted period also. The commercial sector consists of public transport facilities to promote environmental footprints and it consists of vehicle types such as EV trucks and buses, which have increased their market share growth during the forecasted period. The considerable growth in the electric vehicle fluid market is attributable to factors such as rising demand for efficient and durable fluids specifically targeted for electric vehicles. Generally, various components of an electric vehicle generate a lot of heat during the operation of the vehicle, such as the battery system and the e-motors. This has further led to the need for better thermal management in these vehicles. The new EV fluids have added additives and dielectric properties, which makes them suitable for application in electric vehicle components.

As this market is in a nascent stage, there are various challenges such as high cost and viability of developing immersion cooling battery systems that are hindering the growth of this segment. Due to this, automotive OEMs have partnered with various fluid providers to source fluids for their electric vehicles to improve the driving experience, which in turn, can increase electric vehicle sales, which is expected to drive the market growth during the forecast period. For example, Valvoline Incorporation of the United States has launched XEV, the brand’s first China-based release of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and pure electric vehicle products. XEV 'is a suite of EV and hybrid fluids—including battery protection fluid, motor oil, brake and transmission fluids. Most of the OEMs are developing active thermal management systems with e-thermal or cooling fluids for next-generation EVs, such as future BEV models from Audi, will have an active liquid thermal management system. Toyota will adopt the active cooling strategy for its high-capacity hybrid segment post-2022.

The global automotive supply industry is heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, as both the production and sales of EVs came to a sudden halt in most of the regions. These work stoppages led to a loss in the production of millions of vehicles across the world. According to the OICA, automobile production declined by around 23% in the first nine months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. This negatively affected the demand for lubricants in 2020.During the COVID-19 pandemic when the whole world was at a standstill due to lock-downs and rigid protocols, the traditional fuel-based automobile industry faced a sharp decline in their sales but in electric vehicle segment, though significant growth was not observed, but its position did not deteriorate so badly in comparison to other segments, and the same is the case with the inter-related segment, the electric vehicle fluid market. Now from the last few months as the world is recovering from this pandemic, the electric vehicles fluid market is expected to grow at a very good rate due to large adoption of Electric vehicles by the people.

Considered in this report

• Geography: United States

• Historical year: 2016

• Base year: 2021

• Year of forecast: 2027

Aspects covered in this report

• United States electric vehicle fluid market with its value and forecast along with its segments

• Various drivers and challenges

• On-going trends and developments

• Five force models.

• Top-profiled companies

• Strategic recommendation

By Product Type 

• Grease fluids

• Brake fluids

• Heat-transfer fluids

• Drive-system fluids

By Propulsion Type

• Battery Electric Vehicles

• Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

• Hybrid Electric Vehicles

By Vehicle Type

• Passenger Vehicle type

• Commercial Vehicle type

The approach of the report:

This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and list out the companies that are present in it. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases and annual reports of companies, analyzing government-generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources, primary research was conducted by conducting telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducting trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. After this, we have started making primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers into regional aspects, tier aspects, age groups, and gender. Once we have primary data with us, we can start verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience

This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to EV fluid industry, government bodies and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.