Posted on 03/24/2021 2:19:37 AM PDT by Libloather
BEIJING - Growing demand for electric car batteries will cause prices of the main materials to surge, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a March 18 note.
That in turn will drive prices of batteries higher by about 18%, affecting the total profit of electric car makers since the battery accounts for about 20% to 40% of the vehicle cost, the Goldman analysts said.
While the report didn’t give specific price targets for the commodities, the analysts’ model predicted a return to historical peak prices would more than double the cost of lithium for electric battery makers. That of cobalt would also double, while the cost of nickel would rise by 60%.
“Prices for the three main natural resources have been rising since the start of 2021,” the Goldman report said. “We believe that in order to promote sustainable EV industries, some countries may consider implementing policies to increase national stockpiles.”
A new type of battery
Limited availability of nickel suitable for car batteries could even accelerate a shift to another kind of battery called lithium iron phosphate (LFP), the report said. Tesla and Chinese start-up Xpeng are among automakers already using this type of battery, which does not use nickel or cobalt but stores relatively less energy.
If nickel prices hit their historic high of $50,000 per tonne, that could add $1,250 to $1,500 per electric vehicle, which could hurt consumer demand for the cars, the analysts said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Does Tesla operate their own mines too? If not, it affects them.
They talk about Electric Cars freeing us from oil dependency.
But now we have new dependencies on the materials for the batteries.
And where do they think all that energy required to charge the cars is going to come from?
When universal government housing is provided and you are eating the latest government supplied soylent, You will be able to walk to everywhere you need to go.
My house was built in the late 1950’s. ungrounded wire (I’ve replaced some of it) 100 amp service (Breakers)
The oddest part is that the main breaker box is in an upstairs utility room. When I moved in there were only two breakers.
In the basement is a weird array of smaller boxes, some with fuses, some breakers. It’s mainly for the big stuff (dryer, furnace etc)
Even my neighbor, a master electrician can’t figure out why.
Don’t you also need a similar upgrade to switch to solar?
At the electric rate I pay if I charge my car at 60 amps for 6 hours that’s about $50. That gets me maybe 300 miles. I can drive 600 miles in my present car for about $40 in diesel fuel. Two and a half times more for me to fuel and electric car.
I wouldn't want to be dependent on china for my supply chain.
California, in particular, seems like it’s going to have power grid problems every year. They are over-dependent on Wind & Solar given their limited peak-demand/backup generating capacity; their last Nuke plant is due for decommissioning within a few years (by law); they don’t maintain their rural power grids against annual wildfires (& so must shut down threatened sections). Explain to me how somebody with a shiny-new E-car is supposed to have any mobility?
Too bad they can’t make batteries out of coal.
Ping.
As demand goes up, so does the price, “Law of Supply and Demand”. ..... But the liberals don’t understand economic laws. ............
Last I checked yes they do
No they don’t. As of last October they said they plan to. Nothing online since then.
So they are going to do this on their own I don’t see much of a problem then
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