Does Elon Musk Need Geopolitical Stability For EV Batteries?
Photo for representation purpose only There is going to be a new war of raw materials that might reinvent the Electric vehicle dynamics worldwide. The precious material here in controversy in Nickel. With a surge in the EV market, there is more need of batteries that make use of this metal. Not found in large quantities, it takes painstaking effort to mine in from the Earth’s crust. As of now, America has small amounts to spare. In 2020, Tesla's Elon Musk begged miners to “please mine more nickel” and offered a “giant contract” to anyone who could do it sustainably. The problem is acute. Nickel is a key component of electric-vehicle batteries. Thanks to surging EV demand, geopolitics and a lack of new supplies, the high-grade nickel necessary for making electric-vehicle batteries is becoming scarce. As of latest statistics, Australia and Indonesia are tied for the highest nickel reserves in the world, each coming in at 21 million MT. While Australia is only the fifth larges...