According to the Financial Times, Tesla has recently signed an agreement with global mining giant Glencore to purchase 6,000 tons of cobalt materials for the production of lithium batteries in its new factory. Cobalt is an important raw material for manufacturing electric vehicles due to its strong thermal stability and high energy density.
Although Tesla has been trying to reduce its reliance on cobalt, as production increases, demand for cobalt is also increasing. The purpose of this agreement is to prevent a future shortage of cobalt that could impact production.
Glencore is also the world’s largest cobalt supplier. Under the cooperation agreement between the two companies, Glencore will provide Tesla with up to 6,000 tons of cobalt annually. The specific financial details of the transaction are not disclosed, but the price of one ton of cobalt is approximately $30,000, lower than the $95,000 in May 2018.
Reports indicate that Tesla plans to use Glencore’s cobalt in its new factory in Berlin, Germany, and its Gigafactory in Shanghai, China.
So far, Tesla has mainly relied on external suppliers for lithium batteries. The lithium batteries used in the US factory are mainly from a joint venture with Japan’s Panasonic in Nevada. The lithium batteries used in the Shanghai factory come from LG Chem and CATL.
From this, it can be seen that getting rid of cobalt materials is not so easy for Tesla, and the production of high-nickel batteries has progressed slowly due to stability issues.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.