VW SPARKS RAW MATERIAL RED ALERT Volkswagen Group’s cobalt...

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Column 1 0 Column 1 0 Volkswagen Group’s cobalt pursuit sees automaker EV step change that will impact lithium, graphite and nickel German automaker Volkswagen Group (VW) made an announcement in September which sent shockwaves through the lithium ion battery supply chain. The company outlined the most significant capital investments seen so far from an incumbent auto manufacturer as part of VW’s drive to become the market leader in electric vehicles (EV), termed RoadmapE. The announcement by CEO Matthias Müller stated the company will provide more than $24 billion (20 billion euros) for “direct investment in industrialising electromobility by 2030”. The capital will be used to develop two new EV platforms, a production plant and workforce qualification as well as building out charging infrastructure.The group as a whole, which includes Audi, Skoda, Porsche and Seat, has pledged to deliver more than 80 new EV models by 2025, 50 of which will be full EVs, the remaining 30 plug-in hybrids. VW also set itself the target of offering an electric version of each one of the groups 300 models by 2030.These are incredible numbers and a step change for the industry. With significant deficits forecast for the critical raw materials fundamental to lithium-ion batteries, VW went one step further in its announcement, outlining that they have already begun attempting to source the raw materials needed for RoadmapE. Müller went on to state “the company will need a battery capacity of more than 150 GWh a year by 2025 solely to fit its own e-fleet”.This was later revised upwards to 200GWh. To ensure security of supply for the demand created by the group, VW has initiated the tender process for long-term strategic partnerships in China, Europe and the United States. “We’re talking here about one of the largest procurement projects in our industry’s history, one with a global order volume of more than €50 billion over its term” added Müller, with this figure relating to the groups' high volume all electric vehicles.VW’s raw material demand In the announcement, Müller refers to the group requiring “three Gigafactories” to provide the 150GWh of cells to meet their forecast production demand by 2025. Reuters reported that the tender process has stipulated NCM cathode technology of 622 (6 parts nickel, 2 cobalt and 2 manganese) and 811, respectively.Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimates that 150GWh of cells equates to....The full article is published in the Benchmark Q3 2017 Review (out soon), available to Benchmark members.

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