Automotive industry faces long term battery, raw material supply issues, Tavares says

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares holds a news convention just after assembly with unions, in Turin, Italy, March 31, 2022. REUTERS/Massimo Pinca

MILAN, Might 10 (Reuters) – The automotive industry faces a shortage of batteries and raw products in the coming several years as element of its transition in direction of electrical mobility, the head of Stellantis (STLA.MI) Carlos Tavares explained on Tuesday.

Talking at the FT Foreseeable future of the Vehicle 2022 conference, Tavares reported he could foresee the business could go through source problems with batteries all-around 2025, 2026.

“And if there is no quick offer of batteries then there will be a important dependence of the Western world vis-à-vis Asia. That is one thing we can effortlessly anticipate,” the CEO of the world’s fourth greatest carmaker stated.

“The speed at which now every person is building production capacity for batteries is maybe on the edge to be ready to assistance the quickly modifying markets in which we are functioning,” he reported.

Tavares said raw material offer could also pose structural worries in the coming decades as electric automobiles were being on regular 500 kilos heavier than classic combustion engine types.

“That signifies a lot of uncooked content extraction, that implies at some point shortage of uncooked resources, that suggests inevitably geopolitical threats,” Tavares reported. “We may possibly not like the way those people uncooked products are heading to be sourced in a several years”.

He reported automakers had been focusing on technological innovation and had been ready to “pour” battery electric motor vehicles on the industry, whilst they and regulators ended up missing eyesight on all long time period implications of the mobility transition.

“What is upcoming? The place is the cleanse strength? Where by is the charging infrastructure? Where are the uncooked components? Exactly where are the geopolitical pitfalls of sourcing all those uncooked components? Who is wanting at the full photo of this transformation?” Tavares mentioned.

Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, Editing by Louise Heavens

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