Rising demand for electric vehicles around the world is encouraging automakers such as Tesla, Volkswagen Group and Stellantis to step up efforts to secure raw materials needed for making batteries.
Following are some of the deals that major automakers have announced with suppliers and miners:
Tesla:
Feb 20, 2023 – Magnis Energy signed a binding offtake agreement for a minimum three-year term to supply up to 35,000 terapascal anode active materials, beginning February 2025.
Jan 3, 2023 – Piedmont Lithium amended its deal to supply spodumene concentrate – a chief source of lithium and a key raw material for making batteries – through 2025.
Aug 26, 2022 – Panasonic, a supplier to Tesla, in talks to build an additional EV battery plant in the U.S. at a cost of about $4 billion.
July 31, 2022 – Deals with China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt on supplies of ternary precursor products from July 2022 to December 2025 and CNGR Advanced Material for battery materials between 2023 and 2025.
May 6, 2022 – Brazilian miner Vale signed a long-term deal to supply nickel from its Canadian operations.
March 1, 2022 – Core Lithium will supply up to 110,000 dry metric tons of spodumene concentrate over four years, starting in the second half of 2023.
Feb 15, 2022 – Liontown Resources to supply up to 150,000 dry metric tons of spodumene concentrate per year over five years, starting in 2024.
Volkswagen:
March 17, 2023 – VW plans to invest in mines to bring down the cost of battery cells, meet half of its own demand and sell to third-party customers.
Sept 26, 2022 – VW announces $2.9 billion battery parts joint venture with Belgian materials company Umicore.
Aug 23, 2022 – VW intensifies efforts to secure access to key battery materials lithium, nickel and cobalt by striking a cooperation agreement with top supplier Canada. No financial details were disclosed.
March 21, 2022 – VW to form joint ventures with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Tsingshan Group to secure nickel and cobalt supplies for electric vehicles in China.
Stellantis:
Feb 27, 2023: Stellantis announces $155 million investment for a minority stake in an Argentinian copper mine as part of its global push to secure raw materials for EV batteries.
Jan 18, 2023 – Finnish company Terrafame says it will supply Stellantis with nickel sulphate over a five-year period, starting from 2025 onwards.
Jan 9, 2023 – Stellantis says it signed a deal with Australian miner Element for the supply of manganese sulphite for batteries for its electric vehicles, with deliveries for up to 45 kilotons expected to begin in 2026.
Oct 10, 2022 – Stellantis announces non-binding preliminary agreement with GME Resources to secure supplies of nickel and cobalt sulphate for EV batteries.
June 24, 2022 – Stellantis says it will invest 50 million euros ($50.3 million) to buy an 8 percent stake in German-Australian start-up miner Vulcan, becoming its second-largest shareholder and extending a lithium supply agreement to 10 years.
June 2, 2022 – Controlled Thermal Resources will supply Stellantis with up to 25,000 metric tons per year of lithium hydroxide over 10 years from a project in California.
Renault:
Dec 2, 2022 – Finnish mining company Terrafame strikes multi-year deal to supply Renault with nickel sulphate for more than 200,000 EV batteries a year
June 1, 2022 – Moroccan miner Managem will supply 5,000 tons of low-carbon cobalt sulphate under a seven-year deal starting from 2025.
Mercedes-Benz:
Oct 20, 2022 – Canadian-German Rock Tech Lithium signed a 1.5-billion euro deal to supply the German automaker with 10,000 tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide annually – enough for 150,000 cars a year.
Aug 23, 2022 – Battery materials cooperation agreements struck with mineral-rich Canada, intensifying automaker’s efforts to secure access to lithium, nickel and cobalt.
BMW:
Dec 21, 2022 – European Lithium signed a $15 million binding offtake agreement for supplies of about 50,000 metric tons of battery grade lithium hydroxide.
Aug 5, 2022 – BMW signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with European Lithium for supply of lithium hydroxide.
June 7, 2022 – U.S. start-up Lilac Solutions, backed by BMW, competing for mining partnerships in Bolivia to tap into the world’s largest resources of lithium.
May 17, 2022 – BMW I Ventures invested in Canadian Mangrove Lithium, producing battery grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate.
Toyota:
Aug 1, 2022 – A joint venture of Toyota and Panasonic will buy lithium from Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge mining project in Nevada to build EV batteries in the U.S.
General Motors:
Nov 17, 2022 – Vale will supply battery grade nickel for future EVs, starting in 2026 and providing enough refined nickel for up to 350,000 vehicles a year.
Oct 12, 2022 – GM agreed to invest up to $69 million in Queensland Pacific Metals, granting it the right to purchase all uncommitted nickel and cobalt sulphate produced in the first 15 years of phase 1 of the company’s TECH project
Aug 3, 2022 – GM makes prepayment of $198 million to Livent for a guaranteed six-year supply of lithium from 2025 at a contractual price per ton. Volume not disclosed.
April 12, 2022 – Miner Glencore will supply cobalt, secured from its Murrin Murrin operation in Australia, to be used in GM’s Ultium battery cathodes. Details not disclosed.
Ford:
Mar 30, 2023 – Ford has joined Vale Indonesia and China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt as their new partner in a $4.5 billion nickel processing plant in Indonesia.
July 21, 2022 – Ioneer signed binding offtake agreement with Ford to supply lithium from Rhyolite Ridge in Nevada.
July 21, 2022 – Offtake agreement with Huayou Cobalt that collectively will provide rights to the equivalent of 84 kilotons per annum of nickel.
July 21, 2022 – MoU with BHP for nickel supply from BHP’s Nickel West operations in Australia. The targeted multi-year agreement could start as early as 2025.
June 29, 2022 – Australia’s Liontown Resources will supply up to 150,000 dry metric tons per year of spodumene concentrate from its Kathleen Valley project in Western Australia for five years, starting 2024.
Apr 11, 2022 – Signed preliminary deal to purchase 25,000 tons of lithium annually from Lake Resources’ project in northern Argentina.
Source: Automotive News Europe
