„The tech executive said vertical integration – where one...

„The tech executive said vertical integration – where one company becomes involved with two or more stages of production normally operated by separate companies – is extremely important to his growth vision for Tesla.

One of the reasons Musk sees vertical integration as vital to Tesla is his view of complex mines-to-gigafactory supply chain that is inefficient and prone to disruption.

"If you put a GPS tracker on a molecule from when it got mined to when it was in a usable product, it would look insane," he said.

Any traffic jam along this supply chain – whether it be at the mine, refinery, or battery facility – will be a limiting factor for Tesla growth. The other major facet of this expansion is price.

"So, that's why we're going to talk about a lot more about this on Battery Day, because this is a fundamental scaling constraint," said Musk.

Slated to be held in Freemont, California on Sept. 22, Battery Day is an event where Tesla is expected to showcase its batteries and introduce new technologies. And, given Musk's prelude, we are likely to learn a lot more about the company's plans to source the minerals and metals at the front end of its gigafactory supply chain.“

https://www.metaltechnews.com/story/2020/07/29/tech-metals/is-elon-musk-considering-tesla-gigamines/289.html