Tesla expects a global shortage of electric vehicle battery minerals

• Financial

Tesla Inc., the leading US electric vehicle maker had been expecting an imminent shortage of e-vehicle battery minerals such as copper, nickel and others, as there appeared to be an underinvestment over the mining sector, Tesla Inc.’s head of mineral procurement commented at an industry conference on Thursday, the 2nd of May 2019.

Although, Tesla Inc., one of the major conventional mineral consumers, had little mentioned about its view on metal industry so far, yet amid an ongoing shortage of supplies for key e-vehicle battery raw materials such as copper, lithium & nickel, the company had aired its concern over the mineral industry for the first time on Thursday’s (May 2nd) Industry conference.

According to sources with knowledge regarding the subject matter, the Tesla Inc.’s global supply manager for e-vehicle metals, Sara Maryssael, told at a closed-door Washington conference of regulators, lawmakers and miners, that the electric vehicle maker had been anticipating a critical shortage of EV battery minerals over the years ahead.

Besides, Thursday’s (May 2nd) comment came forth, after earlier this year Tesla Inc. had sealed a deal with a Chinese e-vehicle battery maker over concerns that the US government had been turning a deaf year to the longing of mining industries including critical supplies for electric vehicles.

Apart from that, on Thursday’s (May 2nd) meeting with the miners, Maryssael had added that the Tesla Inc. would continue to center its focus on nickel-based batteries for e-vehicles, while cobalt had been an industry favorite since the beginning due to its cheaper cost.

However, cobalt was primarily mined by the Republic of Congo, who had been blamed for years for the its extraction technique alongside use of child labors to keep the costs lower, which had had made its use deeply unpopular over the years across the battery industry.