To wake up one day and realize your dream can no longer be achieved is heartbreaking. The recent update on the EV segment is something similar. As the world races to make the switch to EVs, the CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares says Earth doesn’t have enough raw material to meet the demands of EVs.
As the automobile industry works hurriedly to meet the growing demands of the EV segment, quite a few companies have turned a blind eye to the inevitable problem, that is, the future of raw material supply. However, Carlos Tavares isn’t following this trend.
He spoke at the Freedom of Mobility Forum a forum that is described by Detroit News as, a platform the automaker created alongside its decision to leave the European Automobile Manufacturers Association and to change its approach to public affairs and lobbying.
He shared, “We know that we need lithium. We know that we are not producing as much as we need. We have right now 1.3 billion cars (that are) internal combustion engine powered on the planet. We need to replace that with clean mobility. That will need a lot of lithium. Not only the lithium may not be enough, but the concentration of the mining of lithium may create other geopolitical issues.”
Though the CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares says Earth doesn’t have enough raw material to meet the demands of EVs he expects his company to meet the self-appointed EV targets set by 2030.
He also plans for the company to meet the EU’s 2035 ban on the sale of new internal-combustion cars as well as EU and US EV sales targets. Again he was unhappy with the inflexible regulations around the world solely focusing on EVs as he said,
Our societies are losing a lot of great potential by not having technology-neutral regulations. This is a big, big loss of creativity, of scientific power that we are deciding upfront by imposing one single technology instead of having a technology-neutral regulation that would create healthy competition.
Tavares says that there are 1.3 billion gas-powered cars that need to be replaced by EVs. He says a lot of Lithium might be needed for EVs as he shares, “Not only the lithium may not be enough, but the concentration of the mining of lithium may create other geopolitical issues.”
Lastly, he also spoke about EV affordability being an issue. “The affordability is not there because the raw materials are scarce and very expensive, and I would add very volatile.”
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It’s not the first time Carlos spoke on this issue he sounded alarm bells back in May 2022 as well. However, the company mentioned back in 2021 that they will send 35.5 million dollars through 2025 to develop a range of plug-in vehicles.
The company is also planning to invest 2.5 billion dollars to partner with Samsung to build their first EV battery factory in Indiana. It is expected to open in 2025. Stellantis plans to sell 5 million EVs per year globally.
