The electric vehicle revolution is fully underway. Led by successful vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, which are compelling alternatives to comparable internal combustion cars, E.V. sales are taking off. The momentum of E.V.s as a whole may hit some challenges soon, however, partly due to the rising prices of raw materials that are critical to the production of batteries.

The prices of lithium-ion batteries have seen a 90% decline to just about $130 per kWh That’s very close to the widely targeted $100 per kWh level, which is estimated to be the point where E.V.s could become fully competitive with ICE cars in terms of cost. Expectations were high that the battery industry would hit $100 per kWh in 2024, but recent trends in the market suggest that this may not necessarily be the case.

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence notes that battery-grade cobalt prices are up 119% from January 1, 2020 through mid-January 2022. Nickel sulfate prices saw a 55% rise in price, and lithium carbonate saw a whopping 569% increase. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence chief data officer Caspar Rawles, in a statement to The Wall Street Journal, noted that some battery cell makers that typically offered long-term fixed-price contracts have ended up shifting to a variable price model instead. This allowed them to pass on some of the costs of rising material prices to consumers.

Source: Summarized from Simon Alvarez at teslarati.

My Take: There is going to be some major mineral supply and demand issues coming to a theatre near you. Stay tuned.

Re Posted From: Tesla and the EV Sectors Growth is Driving Up Lithium Prices

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The electric vehicle revolution is fully underway. Led by successful vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, which are compelling alternatives to comparable internal combustion cars, E.V. sales are taking off. The momentum of E.V.s as a whole may hit some challenges soon, however, partly due to the rising prices of raw materials that are critical to the production of batteries.

The prices of lithium-ion batteries have seen a 90% decline to just about $130 per kWh That’s very close to the widely targeted $100 per kWh level, which is estimated to be the point where E.V.s could become fully competitive with ICE cars in terms of cost. Expectations were high that the battery industry would hit $100 per kWh in 2024, but recent trends in the market suggest that this may not necessarily be the case.

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence notes that battery-grade cobalt prices are up 119% from January 1, 2020 through mid-January 2022. Nickel sulfate prices saw a 55% rise in price, and lithium carbonate saw a whopping 569% increase. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence chief data officer Caspar Rawles, in a statement to The Wall Street Journal, noted that some battery cell makers that typically offered long-term fixed-price contracts have ended up shifting to a variable price model instead. This allowed them to pass on some of the costs of rising material prices to consumers.

Source: Summarized from Simon Alvarez at teslarati.

My Take: There is going to be some major mineral supply and demand issues coming to a theatre near you. Stay tuned.

Re Posted From: Tesla and the EV Sectors Growth is Driving Up Lithium Prices

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