Telsa’s billionaire boss, Elon Musk, has repeatedly expressed concern about future supplies of nickel due to challenges in sustainable sourcing.
Musk has pleaded with miners to produce more nickel, with demand set to skyrocket as the world increasingly moves toward electric vehicles and phase out internal combustion engine cars.
Nickel is a key component in lithium-ion batteries
The product is used in electric vehicles – and Tesla needs it greatly.
It packs more energy into batteries and allows producers to reduce use of cobalt, which is more expensive and has a less transparent supply chain.