Will there be enough lithium and other vital raw materials to make electric car batteries? Will there be sufficient charging stations? How will carmakers ensure that their offerings are affordable for the average driver?
These corporate ambitions have dovetailed with efforts by national and local governments to go green. "We used to say that the challenges for electric vehicles would be consumer acceptance and price," she added. For Caldwell, the bigger issue now is whether automakers"can get the raw materials" they need to make the cars.A scarcity of the rare metals needed to produce batteries for electric vehicles may pose a challenge to carmakersKarl Brauer, an executive analyst for used car search engine iseecars.com, agrees, saying that no matter what government incentives are offered for would-be buyers of electric vehicles, the rare elements needed may simply be unavailable.
German auto manufacturers Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz on Monday signed memorandums of understanding with the Canadian government to ensure their access to rare metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. For Brauer, shifting production lines to accommodate electric vehicle components is, by comparison, quite easy, as the automakers"have control over that."In the United States, new legislation championed by the administration of President Joe Biden allots up to $7,500 in tax credits to every American who buys an electric vehicle.