March 20, 2022 – The supply chain fallout from the war in Ukraine could make electric vehicles more expensive to build as raw material prices jump higher.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated price pressures by inflating raw material prices. Nickel is of particular concern, since Russia is the world’s third-largest supplier of the metal. Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest producer of high-grade nickel used in EV batteries, is based in Russia. Nickel, which has traded for between $10,000 and $20,000 per ton over the past decade, traded for more than $100,000 per ton on March 8.
As a result of the Ukrainian situation, the Tesla Model Y crossover, the most popular EV on the U.S. market, could see input costs for battery raw materials surge by almost $8,000 per vehicle this year.
