I remember Tesla battery day 2020, Elon Musk discussed a new method of extracting lithium from clay. Lithium producers sold off on this information. I have not heard anything more about TSLA producing their own lithium from this new mining technique.
You can remove rare earths from magnets, but the efficiency drops off, and EVs are all about efficiency to maximise range. I believe Tesla was pushing the rare earth fee magnets are more environmentally friendly. But, we have yet to see a Tesla produced rare earth free magnet. I believe Tesla may be positioning to acquire some of the lower end market, with small vehicles with limited range and less efficient magnets, eg those who live in the suburbs and tend to just drive small distances to shops etc. But, the majority of their vehicles will likely have rare earth based magnets.
Tesla /Elon Musk always like to be seen as innovators, so they want to drop something at battery/ investor day. This "environmentally friendly" rare earth free magnet was probably the best they had, so was pushed more than it warranted.
ASM Price at posting:
$1.25 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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