The trouble is, record high lithium prices and a sprawling supply chain that stretches back to China has made battery cost controls a headache for Tesla. "None more so than batteries and this wasn't showcased enough by Tesla at Investor Day."īatteries, the rechargeable workhorses of EVs that quite literally power the whole thing, depend on a critical mix of metals, with perhaps none more critical than lithium. "To truly build a sustainable low-cost EV, a number of cost controls need to be implemented across the supply chain," said Benchmark Mineral Intelligence CEO Simon Moores. Where exactly should it start if it wants to get more efficient? Perhaps with the most expensive EV component of all: batteries. Still, given Tesla's delivery of roughly 1.3 million vehicles last year, it clearly has a long way to go to hit Musk's goal. Musk himself teased at a Morgan Stanley conference this week that there's a "clear path" to "a smaller vehicle that is half the production cost of the Model 3," Tesla's cheapest vehicle with a starting price at around $43,000. Instead, Tesla's CFO said at the event that it would focus on Silicon Valley's very much en vogue trend of "efficiency" to come up with the $175 billion that it needs to make the necessary investments to hit its 20-million-cars-per-year target. So it was strange that its long-awaited plans for a low-cost electric vehicle was a complete no-show during the launch of Tesla's latest master plan in Texas last week.Ī cheaper Tesla would be a surefire way of enticing a new crop of would-be customers. Tesla wants to make lower cost electric vehicles, as a key part of its plan to fend off challenger.īut it needs to invest in low-cost, cutting-edge battery tech to see that vision through.Ī mineral research firm says Tesla is not doing enough to control the costs of its batteries.Įlon Musk's ambition to sell 20 million Tesla vehicles per year by the end of the decade is no joke. If Tesla wants to build a cheaper, more affordable EV, it's going to need to invest in better battery technology.
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