“Volatile Beast” Nickel Vexing Electric Car Push “‘Nickel can be a volatile beast,’ said William Adams, head of base metal and battery research at Fastmarkets in London.”
“While analysts say prices will subside from current stratospheric levels, the bad news is that they could remain elevated and add hundreds of dollars in costs.”
“‘Nickel is the single biggest component in terms of cost,’ said Sam Abuelsamid, principal research analyst at Guidehouse Insights. ‘So any change will have a significant impact.’”
“Here’s how the math works. A 100 kilowatt hour battery needs about 145 pounds of nickel, according to BloombergNEF. Last year’s average price was about $US18,500 per metric tonne, Adams said. That means about $US1,200 of nickel in every battery. At $US29,000 per metric tonne, where it closed Friday before the worst of the short squeeze, that same battery needed more than $US1,900 in nickel. It’s not a huge jump, but carmakers don’t like to see the cost of one material go up by $US700 a vehicle.”
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/electric-car-push-bumps-up-against-chaos-in-nickel-market-20220310-p5a3ci.html