San Francisco: Tech billionaire Elon Musk has said that his electric car manufacturing firm Tesla and rocket company SpaceX are facing significant inflationary pressures in raw materials as well as logistics.
“Tesla and SpaceX are seeing significant recent inflation pressure in raw materials and logistics,” Musk said in a tweet on Sunday.
He, however, said his companies “are not alone”, as the Ukraine-Russia conflict sent commodity prices to their highest levels since 2008.
Rising nickel prices, owing to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have thrown a spanner in Musk and other automakers’ dream of introducing affordable electric cars soon.
Reports said that the rising raw materials costs have hampered Musk and other automakers’ plans to introduce more affordable electric vehicles (EVs).
Nickel has long been widely used in batteries, most commonly in nickel cadmium and in the longer-lasting nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries, which came to the fore in the 1980s.
In its bid to catch up with Tesla, Ford Motor Company just announced to increase its EV investment to $50 billion till 2026, up from the previous $30 billion investment announcement by 2025.
US-based automaker Jeep, owned by Stellantis, has revealed the first images of its upcoming electric SUV and confirmed that it will launch in 2023.
As electric cars become the flavour of the season, Sony and Honda recently announced a strategic alliance to form a new company that aims to create the next era of mobility and mobility services.
–IANS