A spike in demand for electric vehicles(EV) in the global markets is encouraging automakers such Tesla Inc, Volkswagen and Stellantis NV to secure raw materials needed for making batteries.
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Following are some of the deals major automakers have announced with suppliers and miners:
Tesla
March 01, 2022: Core Lithium will supply up to 110,000 dry metric tonnes of Spodumene concentrate, a chief source of lithium, over four years, starting in the second half of 2023, from an Australian project.
November 01, 2021: China's Ganfeng Lithium Co will supply battery-grade lithium for three years starting 2022. Volumes were not disclosed. Ganfeng is the third largest lithium supplier in the world.
July 22, 2021: Australia's BHP Group will supply nickel from BHP's plants in Western Australia. Quantities, timing not disclosed.
Volkswagen
December 08, 2021: Vulcan Energy Resources will provide lithium hydroxide for five years starting in 2026. Vulcan extracts lithium from geothermal sources in Germany's Upper Rhine Valley region.
December 08, 2021: Belgian chemical firm Umicore will supply cathode materials for VW European battery cell factories under a joint venture with the carmaker. It will start production in 2025 with 20 gigawatt hours (GWh) for VW's plant in Salzgitter, Germany.
Stellantis NV
November 29, 2021: Preliminary deal with Vulcan Energy Resources for lithium produced using geothermal energy from Germany. Over five years starting in 2026, Vulcan will supply between 81,000 and 99,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.
Renault SA
November 21, 2021: Vulcan Energy Resources will supply 26,000 to 32,000 metric tonnes of battery-grade lithium chemicals for initial six-year starting 2026.
October 08, 2021: MoU with Terrafame, a Finnish nickel and cobalt miner, to supply nickel sulphate. Quantities and timeline not disclosed.
Toyota Motor Corp.
October 04, 2021: BHP Group Ltd will supply nickel sulphate from Western Australia to a battery-making joint venture between Toyota Motor and Panasonic. Details were not disclosed.
General Motors
April 12, 2022: Miner Glencore PLC will supply cobalt, secured from its Murrin Murrin operation in Australia, to be used in GM's Ultium battery cathodes, which powers the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq vehicles. Details were not disclosed.
July 02, 2021: GM will make a "multimillion-dollar investment" in and help develop Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) Ltd's Hell's Kitchen geothermal brine project near California's Salton Sea. The project could be producing 60,000 tonnes of lithium - enough to make roughly 6 million EVs - by mid-2024.
Ford
April 11, 2022: Ford will buy lithium from a Lake Resources NL facility in Argentina. The carmaker aims to purchase 25,000 tonnes annually of the white metal from Lake's Kachi project in northern Argentina.
September 22, 2021 Partners with startup Redwood Materials to form a "closed loop" or circular supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, from raw materials to recycling.
