Quote:
Tesla has invested about $5 billion in its car company and about $5 billion into its “Gigafactory” to build huge numbers of lithium ion batteries. But the company lost money every single quarter for the last decade. On a year-end, fully accounted basis Tesla lost $19,810 and $51,344 in negative cash flow for every vehicle it built.
Tesla’s profit plan is based on the mid-priced Model 3, with a 200-mile range on a battery charge achieving “positive economies of scale” volume savings. The key to that savings is driving down the cost of lithium ion battery power from $350 per kilowatt hour to $150 per kilowatt hour by 2024, according to Stratfor Global Intelligence.
Most lithium comes from South America’s Andes region, where substantial deposits can be mined more cheaply than those in other regions. Chile, as the major player, projects double-digit demand growth coming from spiking demand for electric vehicles, battery storage for electric grids and the rise of mobile robotics.
Stratfor defines lithium-ion batteries as the “industry standard” for commercial battery technology, in terms of storage capacity and lifetime. But Stratfor warns that for lithium, “global prices have increased by 20 percent between September 2014 and October 2015 and are expected to increase by another 20 percent before 2018.”
Tesla faces the unique risk that achieving huge Model 3 sales volume could cause “negative economies of scale” by driving the price of lithium up even faster.
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http://www.breitbart.com/california/...ning-business/
Cant believe Im linking to breitbart but whatever, it says what I think is critical here.
Apple's path forward is in identifying an alternative to lithium and investing heavily in it. it seems to me that Lithium just is not a sustainable solution for electric car growth moving forward. Tesla has bet the farm on it. Apple's only chance is to find something better and only they have the resources to do so with little risk.
But there is zero evidence that Apple is investing heavily in that kind of research and development.