Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a surge in prices of metals used in cars — from aluminium to palladium and high-grade nickelBengaluru — Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the US electric carmaker and his rocket company SpaceX are facing significant inflationary pressure in raw materials and logistics.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a surge in prices of metals used in cars — from aluminium in the bodywork to palladium in catalytic converters to the high-grade nickel in electric vehicle batteries — and customers are likely to foot the bill.Soaring raw material prices have raised concerns about EV economics, as legacy automakers and start-ups prepare to launch new cars this year after overcoming problems related to chip shortages.
“Just as hopes the semiconductor shortage was easing... the invasion has thrown up fresh disruptions to the supply of essential materials and a worrying surge in prices,” Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter said.