Tesla has agreed to buy 42,000 tons of nickel> teslamag.de

New Caledonia is not even a real country because its residents twice spoke out against independence from the former colonial power France. But in the archipelago of 300,000 people in the Pacific Ocean next to Australia, 25 percent of the world’s nickel deposits and 10 percent of proven reserves can be found. This gives it a central position in the electric vehicle revolution that has begun, which requires nickel batteries in most cases today. In fact, Tesla has been involved there since March as a consultant to an astrologer and has also taken materials from him. And now, according to reports, it has been agreed to supply the bulk of nickel from New Caledonia for several years.

Biggest customer of domestic Tesla

Tesla has agreed to buy 42,000 tons of nickel with local raw materials company Prony Resources, Reported on Wednesday, among other things, business hula from Australia. According to the materials expert, Tesla will use about 30,000 tons in its product batteries this year, according to the report. Prony’s production in New Caledonia will reach about 22,000 tons this year, and should double to 44,000 tons by 2024.

The largest nickel mine in the Special Zone formerly belonged to the raw material giant Vale and France. At the end of 2020, it was supposed to be sold to a Swiss trading company, but this led to intense protests, As reported by the BBC. In the end, the majority went to the three provinces of New Caledonia and the local population, and Tesla rose as a technical and industrial advisor a.

With the new agreement, Tesla will be by far the biggest customer, he said According to a report from Reuters Now president of Prory Resources. The 42,000 tons listed above are also just guidelines. The CEO did not want to give the planned duration of the delivery contract or any other details. He said the plan initially is to use nickel from New Caledonia in the supply chain for Tesla batteries in Asia, according to Reuters.

Nickel only for the best batteries

Nickel is used in today’s most powerful electric car batteries, and according to Tesla CEO Musk, it is very rare and therefore as expensive as cobalt. Their relative importance is already declining because, led by Tesla and China, LFP batteries are increasingly being used without these two scarce raw materials. Approximately According to Musk, two-thirds of Tesla’s installed capacity should rely on this chemistry in the future Based on. But Tesla wants to rely on high nickel for the best Format 4680 batteries, which they developed themselves – and with the New Caledonia deal it now appears to have made significant progress on this part of the raw materials challenge.