As if that were not enough with the semiconductor crisis (which still persists), car manufacturers may find themselves, in the medium term, with an even greater crisis caused byย the shortage of batteriesย for their electric models.
Who predicts it isย RJ Scaringe, the CEO of Rivianย .ย In a recent interview granted to theย Wall Street Journalย , the North American businessman stated emphatically that “the semiconductor thing is a small appetizer of what we are going to suffer with batteries in the next two decades”.
A race to secure supply
With these words, what Scaringe comes to explain is that the progressive increase in demand by the automotive industry, together with the sharp increase in the prices of the raw materials that make up the batteries (especiallyย lithiumย ) are creating a scenario in which it seemsย there won’t be enough batteriesย to go around.
Given this, the automotive industry maneuvers toย ensure priority in supplyย , even ahead of other sectors such as consumer electronics.
But, independently, each manufacturer fights to haveย an adequate supplyย of them.ย Something that has become a priority, in light of the movements that brands have made in recent years.
Some of them, such as Ford or General Motors, have already signed agreements with leading suppliers such as LG or SK.ย However, large groups such as Stellantis have directly opted toย become producers themselvesย , buildingย specific gigafactoriesย for this task.
The great advantage of this strategy (which is also one of Rivian’s goals) lies in the freedom it offers the manufacturer to adapt battery production to the pace of car assembly.
Price of lithium has gone to insane levels! Tesla might actually have to get into the mining & refining directly at scale, unless costs improve.
There is no shortage of the element itself, as lithium is almost everywhere on Earth, but pace of extraction/refinement is slow.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 8, 2022
Precisely the first to adopt this path wasย Teslaย , which maintains anย alliance with Panasonicย which includes not only the production, but also the joint development of new cells such as, for example, theย recently presented 4680ย that the Model Y has released. But Elon Musk is already thinking about the next step.
And it is that, as he recently wrote on his social networks, the next thing to ensure that the ups and downs in the production of batteries do not stop the production of electric cars mayย also be to control the same miningย of its raw materials.ย For now, with the acquisition ofย 4,000 hectares of lithium clayย in Nevada, work has already begun.