Possible battery materials shortage

Germany's auto industry risks running short of essential materials for batteries, delaying a planned boost in the production of electric vehicles. Electric Vehicles (EVs) underlie the main objective of reducing harmful transport emissions and addressing environmental goals. However, supporters of EVs argue that developers need to ensure they are affordable for the mass market, and that they are made with strong and lightweight materials. "The risk of running into bottlenecks in raw material supply is increasing because demand is growing faster than production capacity," Matthias Wachter, head of security and raw materials at the BDI was quoted as saying by Sunday paper Welt am Sonntag. "Without sufficient supplies for instance of cobalt, graphite, lithium or manganese there won't be any future technology 'made in Germany,'" he said. Volkswagen said it is pushing for long-term supply contracts in order to avoid material shortages as it aims to invest 34 billion euros ($41 billion) in battery-powered cars by 2022 to challenge Tesla