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EU investors tackle EV battery supply chain issues: European Battery Alliance manager InnoEnergy and Demeter Investment Managers plan to raise EUR 500 mn (c. USD 544.5 mn) to launch a sustainability-focused fund in a bid to shore up rare earth supplies for EV battery production, company executives told Reuters on Thursday. Demeter will act as the investment manager of the fund, with 70% of the funds funneled towards increasing production from mining, processing, refining, and recycling, the newswire explains. The companies are looking to secure reserves of lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite to establish a complete domestic battery value chain to boost the bloc’s sovereignty in the face of a Chinese-dominated supply chain.
REMEMBER- The EU has set out a target to phase out fossil fuel-powered vehicles by 2035, and began in March negotiations with the US on a transatlantic minerals supply agreement in a bid to counter Chinese supremacy in the critical minerals production industry. China controls about 28% of the world’s lithium supplies — essential for EV battery manufacturing — and over 70% of the world’s rare earth production. The EU is looking to secure between 40-50% of its mineral demands through EBA, and plans to allocate EUR 7-8 bn toward its target, Reuters notes.
IN OTHER NEWS- EV stocks are at record lows: EV makers including Tesla, Rivian, Xpeng, Nio, Leapmotor, Fisker, and VinFast all either missed their annual production targets or experienced record low slumps in stock, Bloomberg writes. On Thursday, Tesla — dethroned as top EV maker for 4Q 2023 sales by China’s BYD — saw its shares plummet to their lowest levels since 9 November, with its year-to-date loss of market capitalization reaching USD 116 bn. Similarly, Vietnamese EV maker VinFast saw its market cap drop from USD 190 bn to USD 13 bn over a five-month period, China-based Nio’s US-listed stakes are at their lowest levels since June 2020, and Volvo-affiliated EV manufacturer Polestar saw its valuation scrubbed by bank analysts last week on the back of weak preliminary returns, Bloomberg notes.
REMEMBER- PIF-backed US EV maker Lucid is also underperforming: Last week Lucid reported a 10% y-o-y fall in deliveries to a record low of 1.73k vehicles in 4Q 2023 due to weak customer demand. The automaker’s production has also fallen 31% to y-o-y to 2.4k units in the same quarter, and saw its shares fell 38% last year.
