Currently reading: How global raw materials' costs are affecting EV prices
Electric cars are getting more expensive as the cost of materials for batteries spirals

The surging costs of raw materials for battery cells prompted a half-joking plea from Tesla CEO Elon Musk for investors to get into lithium mining and refining. “Do you like minting money? Well, the lithium business is for you,” he said on the company’s Q1 earnings call in April. “Lithium margins right now are practically software margins,” he went on, claiming purchase prices were 10 times those of extraction prices.

The rising cost of raw materials needed for batteries such as lithium and nickel has prompted cell suppliers to push up prices to car makers, which are then passing on costs to buyers.

The price of nickel hit the headlines in early March when prices quoted on the London Metal Exchange (LME) surged to over $100,000 a ton on fears over Russian supply and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, but have since dropped back to around $33,000.

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