Auto Battery Manufacturers Lithium ChemistriesDiabase, currently it's a trade-off between cost & energy density.
Nickel, Cobalt, Aluminum & rare earths have experienced rising prices in recent months, as you are aware.
The key reason Tesla is currently favoring an alternative Lithium chemistry (cost).
Going forward, the Tesla's, Ford's, GM's and EV battery manufacturers will need to have the capacity in plant operations for flexibilty of Lithium chemistries which could be determined by commodity market price at various times.
At the moment, Tesla moving towards a lower cost Lithium chemistry at the expense of energy density.
Over time, other Lithium chemistries will evolve.
For example, another metal that was recently determined in the Frontier Lithium drill assays will also show very strong purpose in Lithium EV battery manufacturing on account of the high energy density, safety and very long battery life (allowing for practically unlimited charging cycles). That mineral Frontier reported in most recent drill numbers is Niobium, i.e. Lithium-Niobium battery chemistry.
Other uses will be in the Musk Space-X program, etc., Jeff Bezos Blue Origin, Richard Branson's Virgin, etc........