Metals and Manufacturing – Republic of Mining

Canada can build an electric vehicle industry worth $48B a year — but it must act now: report – by Don Pitts (CBC News Business – September 14, 2022)

September 14, 2022

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/

Canada needs a strategy quickly in order to capitalize on payoffs in jobs and economic growth

As climate change shows its growing destructive power in floods and droughts worldwide, even strong advocates for the transition from using fossil fuels to battery-powered electric vehicles know EVs won’t be enough to fix the problem.

But as the North American auto show opens to glitz and fanfare, a new report from two reputable Canadian research groups says that Canada has a brief window to be a major player in transforming an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually into something more climate friendly — and to make money doing it.

Tesla looking at Sudbury for possible electric battery plant: Report – by Staff (Sudbury Star – September 5, 2022)

September 6, 2022

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Tesla officials have scouted Sudbury as a possible home for a factory that would build electric batteries or battery materials, Electric Autonomy Canada reports. In an online story, Electric Autonomy Canada said Tesla went on a site-scouting expedition in Ontario and Quebec during a trip to visit Vale Canada last month.

“Multiple sources with knowledge of the matter, but not authorized to speak, told Electric Autonomy that, earlier (last) month, high-level Tesla employees visited Vale Canada operations in Sudbury, Ont., just ahead of the Mercedes-Volkswagen announcements (in August).

Electric vehicle industry prizes steel over aluminum, Cleveland-Cliffs CEO says – by Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – August 22, 2022)

August 24, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

A Detroit automaker and US steel producer sparred at an industry gathering this week on whether steel or aluminum is the preferred metal for electric-vehicle bodies.

The top executive of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., the second largest US steelmaker, said that EV companies were preferring steel over aluminum. But an executive director from General Motors Co., the biggest US automaker, said there’s no broad brush.

As Canada’s EV battery eco-system takes shape, ‘matchmaker’ Champagne eyes microchips – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – August 18, 2022)

August 23, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

Champagne believes Canada can become a manufacturer of the specialized processors, a necessary component for all new cars

Two years ago, Canada’s goal of developing an electric vehicle battery eco-system was still in the “envisioning” stage, as Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne puts it.

Today, the supply chain build-out is fast becoming a reality, with the country’s first battery and cathode manufacturing plants underway and a record $3.8 billion allocated for the nation’s critical minerals strategy in the latest federal budget.

How one change to a U.S. EV tax credit likely saved Canada’s auto sector (Suto Recent.com – August 14, 2022)

August 15, 2022

https://autorecent.com/

An about-face in U.S. coverage means electrical automobiles made in Canada will now qualify for hefty shopper tax credit when offered in america, a provision in a proposal that’s being lauded by auto business executives on this aspect of the border.

Underneath a earlier proposal, the tax credit would have utilized solely to automobiles assembled in america. The coverage change averts potential commerce disputes and clears a hurdle within the path of Canada’s EV business.

OPINION:Why Biden’s historic climate bill could be a big win for Canada – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – August 8, 2022)

August 11, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Washington has handed Canada’s electric vehicle and cleantech industries a big gift, in the form of a historic climate bill that creates new incentives for American consumers to buy battery-powered cars. Now it’s just a matter of not squandering it.

This weekend, the U.S. Senate voted in favour of the Inflation Reduction Act’s US$369-billion in climate and energy spending, which supporters heralded as Washington’s largest-ever climate-change-fighting initiative.

Tesla steps up lobbying effort with Ontario, Ottawa to set up a ‘manufacturing facility’ – by Adam Radnowski (Globe and Mail – August 9, 2022

August 10, 2022August 10, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s ambitions of becoming an electric-vehicle powerhouse are being newly fuelled by interest from Tesla Inc. in locating a major manufacturing facility in Ontario.

While rumours of such an investment by the pioneering EV maker were kick-started last week by CEO Elon Musk’s offhand remarks during a shareholders’ meeting, an apparent recent shift in the company’s lobbying efforts offers more substantive evidence of the possibility.

Carmakers face fierce battle for lithium until 2030, warns top producer – by Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – August 7, 2022)

August 9, 2022

https://www.ft.com/

US company Albemarle says market will remain tight for the next seven to eight years

Carmakers face a battle for the rest of the decade to secure the lithium needed to help power the electric vehicle revolution, as demand threatens to overwhelm supply, one of the biggest producers of the metal has warned.

Lithium’s use in electric car batteries has put the raw material at the heart of a global competition that has pitted the world’s largest carmakers against each other and drawn in governments as they all race to increase and safeguard supply.

Elon Musk Suggests Tesla’s Next Gigafactory Might Be In Canada – by Dan Mihalascu (Inside EVs – August 5, 2022)

August 5, 2022

https://insideevs.com/

This is the second time Canada is mentioned as a potential location for the next Gigafactory; official announcement to come this year.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on August 4 that an announcement regarding the next Gigafactory could be made later this year.

During a speech at the Gigafactory Texas meeting dubbed Cyber Roundup, the executive talked in detail about Tesla’s vehicle assembly plants. He noted that Tesla opened two new factories this year—Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg and Gigafactory Texas—that are both building the Model Y, with the latter being the only Tesla facility that makes Model Ys powered by 4680 battery cells laid out in structural packs.

Ford Counting On U.S.-Mined Lithium To Power Its EV Growth Plans – by David Blackmon (Forbes Magazine – July 25, 2022)

July 28, 2022

https://www.forbes.com/

Management at Ford Motor Company continues to move aggressively to advance the company’s goals of converting its fleet to electric vehicles in the years to come. The Detroit Free Press reported last week that the company plans to lay off 8,000 of its 31,000 salaried workers as part of a plan to implement $3 billion in budget cuts to try to make its’ struggling EV business unit more financially viable.

The company has announced plans to produce 600,000 EVs by late 2023 and as many as 2 million globally by 2025. But the Ford’s EV sales for the first half of 2022 totaled to just around 23,000 units. While that is a significant rise from the same period during 2021, it is a long way from achieving such aggressive goals.

Race to Secure Battery Metals Heats Up as GM, Ford Ink Deals – by Yvonne Yue Li (Bloomberg News – July 26, 2022)

July 28, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Undeterred by the slowing global economy, buyers of key components in the powering of electric vehicles are stepping up efforts to lock in supplies, with two of the world’s biggest automakers signing direct deals with producers of so-called battery metals.

General Motors Co. announced three deals Tuesday for supplies of raw materials needed for its EV fleet. Less than a week ago, Ford Motor Co. revealed a list of suppliers of inputs ranging from Argentine lithium to Indonesian nickel — enough to build 600,000 EVs a year.

Ford adjusts its EV strategy as supply shortages jeopardize sales targets – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 21, 2022)

July 25, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

Ford said it will use lower performance batteries for select models in order to meet its electric-vehicle targets

Ford Motor Co. said it will use lower performance batteries for select models in order to meet its electric-vehicle targets, the latest example of how global ambitions to cut greenhouse gas emissions are colliding with the reality of supply chain constraints.

The Detroit-based automaker currently offers two versions of the Mustang Mach-E and the F-150 Lightning — a standard version and a vehicle with extended range. The latter are powered by lithium-ion batteries that use the nickel, cobalt, and manganese (NCM) chemistry that has become an industry benchmark, and the standard versions use lower performance NCM batteries.

Ford Secures Batteries to Build 600,000 EVs a Year by 2023 – by Keith Naughton and Gabrielle Coppola (Bloomberg/Windsor Star – July 22, 2022)

July 25, 2022

https://windsorstar.com/

(Bloomberg) — Ford Motor Co. says it has secured enough battery supply to build more than half a million electric vehicles annually by late next year, a quantum leap above the 27,140 battery-powered cars it sold in the US last year.

The automaker has signed contracts with suppliers representing 60 gigawatt hours of annual battery capacity, enough to build 600,000 EVs a year, it said in a statement Thursday. Those suppliers include China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., or CATL, as Bloomberg previously reported.

Canada to make electric vehicle, battery manufacturing pitch Japanese automakers (Canadian Press/Global News – July 5, 2022)

July 19, 2022

https://globalnews.ca/

Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says the convergence of Canada’s automotive and mining sectors is working to lure more companies to Canada to make electric cars and the batteries that power them.

Over eight weeks last spring, automakers and battery companies announced more than $13 billion in new investments in the electric vehicle manufacturing sphere in Canada, including batteries and their components, buses and electric cars.

Umicore metals refiner to build $1.5-billion Ontario factory for EV battery components – by Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – July 13, 2022)

July 13, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Belgian metals refiner Umicore SA is building a $1.5-billion factory near Kingston, Ont. to produce components for electric vehicle batteries, the latest in a series of Canadian investments by automotive manufacturers.

Once operational, Umicore’s facility will see approximately 700 employees transform raw materials, including nickel, cobalt and lithium, into battery parts, creating what Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne described in an interview as a “supply chain ecosystem for electric vehicle manufacturing.”