Your Next EV Battery Might Come From Canada, Solving A Major Concern With Electric Cars
As of now, a large portion of the materials needed to produce electric vehicle batteries need to be refined in China. This can complicate EV production in North America, as automakers don't have the tools and infrastructure needed to produce electric vehicles in-house, and international shipping tends to drive the price tag up.
However, that may change at least partially for North America. According to a report from Bloomberg, Canada Nickel Company Inc. out of Toronto is working to build a $1 billion nickel plant. Reportedly, once it's done in 2027, it will be the largest nickel plant on the continent.
Additionally, the company will attempt to build a stainless steel plant. A press release from Canada Nickel Company reads: "Over three phases, the nickel processing plant is expected to reach a capacity of more than 80,000 tonnes of nickel annually, which is expected to make it the largest nickel processing facility in North America."
Taking out the middle man
The company notes that it hasn't selected an exact location for the plant either. However, if all goes according to plan, the plant could make serious headway towards making North America more independent from other nations and international supply lines used in the production of electric cars. Not only could this impact the price tag on the customer's end, potentially resulting in less expensive EVs, but a North American supply chain nullifies the problems that may occur when or if geopolitical issues flare up.
There's still a lot of leg work to be done, considering the plant isn't scheduled to open for three more years, but it's a step in the right direction. Electric vehicles are certainly viable from a pure capability standard, and most cars have an acceptable battery range. That said, if automakers can't get the supplies needed to make those batteries in the first place, even the best EVs won't go very far.