Bringing down battery costs, most of which come from raw materials, is the key challenge for carmakers attempting to generate profits from EVs equivalent to those reaped from combustion engine cars, a target BMW hopes to reach with its "Neue Klasse" EV-only line launching mid-decade.and investing in mines to secure control down the supply chain.and had set up a raw material office in Canada, where it signed a raw materials agreement last year.
Investing in technologies requiring less raw critical minerals, including hydrogen-powered cars, was another way to bring down costs, Peter said. The carmaker has a battery cell recycling facility via its joint venture in China, but does also not see the need to develop large cell recycling facilities of its own, Peter said.
Instead, it would prove demand for recycled raw materials via the sales growth of its electric cars, and work with partners to recycle at scale, he said. "With our business development, we are creating the motivation to invest - but we do not need to develop big recycling facilities for battery cells ourselves," Peter said.
The original aim of this technological revolution 40 years ago was to take cars off the road to reduce pollution. People work from home. But we didn't bank on global stupidity. People just refuse to cop on. I have managed my whole life without a car.