The CEO of the world’s fourth-largest carmaker sees a shortage of electric vehicle batteries and raw materials by 2024-2025, as carmakers shift to EVs to meet projected increases in consumer demand and government regulations. According to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, “The speed at which we are trying to move all together for the right reason, which is fixing the global warming issue, is so high that the supply chain and the production capacities have no time to adjust.”
The possibility of shortages has been on the minds of Wall Street analysts as they rated automakers and predicted their ability to sell electric vehicles. The EV battery shortage creates an urgent need for companies like Nano One Materials Corp., and Chargepoint Holdings Inc. in order to meet the growing demand for EVs from companies like Stellantis N.V., ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp., and Rivian Automotive, Inc.
Nano One Materials Corp. is a cleantech company that has developed a patented, scalable, low-carbon industrial process for the low-cost production of high-performance lithium-ion battery cathode materials. The technology is applicable to electric vehicles (EVs), energy storage, consumer electronics and next-generation batteries to help with the global push towards a zero-emission future.
“BASF is a global leader in chemistry and high-performance lithium-ion battery cathode materials, and we are proud to be forging new ground with them to improve performance, cost and environmental footprint for CAM production,” said Nano One CEO Dan Blondal. There is a tremendous opportunity to jointly differentiate the production processes and products for a more resilient and sustainable supply chain. We look forward to advancing this partnership.”
A week prior, Nano One Materials announced it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Johnson Matthey (JM) Battery Materials Ltd. (JMBM Canada) for roughly C$10.25 million.
JMBM Canada’s team has over 360 years of collective experience in R&D, pilot-to-commercial scale cathode production and product qualification, and quality assurance systems expertise for manufacturers of Tier 1 automotive lithium-ion cells. JMBM Canada also includes a 2,400 ton per year LFP production plant located in Candiac, Quebec, occupying approximately one-tenth of the 400,000 square foot property.
Nano One also revealed that it has successfully completed Phase One of its advanced lithium-ion battery cathode materials coating development agreement with the world’s leading supplier of niobium products and technology, CBMM. Nano One has successfully demonstrated how CBMM’s niobium forms a protective coating on its single nanocrystal NMC cathode active material. The success on this first milestone not only provides yet another demonstration of the flexibility of the company’s patented One-Pot process, it strengthens the supply chain relationship between CBMM and Nano One.
On May 24, leading automaker Stellantis N.V. announced binding and definitive agreements with Samsung SDI to establish an electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Kokomo, Indiana. Scheduled to start up in 2025, the plant aims for an initial annual production capacity of 23 gigawatt-hours (GWh), with the aim of increasing to 33 GWh in the coming years. As demand for Stellantis electric vehicles is expected to rise, total capacity will increase further.
The joint venture will invest more than $2.5 billion and create 1,400 new jobs in and around Kokomo. The investment could gradually increase to $3.1 billion dollars. The new plant will supply battery modules for a range of vehicles produced at Stellantis’ assembly plants in North America. Plant construction activities are expected to start later this year with production operations expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025.
Chargepoint Holdings Inc. announced in April that it has completed the first of six EV fast-charging corridors through a partnership with the Colorado Energy Office. Corridor A is located near the border of Utah, running along Highway 40 from Boulder to Dinosaur. The Fast-Charging Freeway Corridors Project is a public-private partnership involving a $10 million investment from the Colorado Bureau of Energy, which includes funding from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) from Volkswagen, as well as investments from ChargePoint, local jurisdictions, electric utilities and Colorado businesses. ChargePoint has been assigned six corridors throughout Colorado and each charging location offers two or four ChargePoint® Express 250 fast chargers, allowing EVs to charge up to 125 kilowatts. Later this year, stations will be upgraded to ChargePoint’s more powerful Express Plus.
On May 12, ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp. reported its first-quarter financial results. The company reported Q1 2022 revenue of $1.05 million, up more than 400% year-on-year, and EPS of ($0.15) as it ramps up production. ElectraMeccanica manufactured 170 SOLOs during the period, delivering a total of 45 despite strong logistical headwinds. The company maintains a working capital of $215 million. The Mesa, AZ assembly plant remains on track to go online by the end of 2022. CEO Kevin Pavlov expanded its leadership team with experienced operations executives Joe Mitchell as COO and Kim Brink as CRO. Seasoned financial services and auto executive Bill Quigley was also added to the Board.
Rivian Automotive, Inc. reported total production of 2,553 vehicles for the first quarter of 2022. The company delivered 1,227 vehicles in the quarter, generating $95 million in revenue and negative gross profit of ($502) million for Q1 2022. Its net loss for Q1 2022 was $(1,593) million as compared to $(414) million for the same period last year. The company said it remains focused on increasing production throughout 2022. Rivian reaffirmed the full-year guidance provided in its fourth quarter and full-year 2021 earnings call of 25,000 total production units, ($4,750) million in adjusted EBITDA and $2,600 million of capital expenditures.
Nano One Materials Corp. is changing how the world makes battery materials. Better battery materials help extend battery life and achieve better battery performance.