European carmakers have secured less than a sixth of the raw materials considered critical to make electric vehicle batteries, according to analysis that highlights the expected scramble for green-tech resources ahead of automakers’ 2030 targets.
According to The Guardian, carmakers in the U.K. and Europe have secured contracts for only 16% of the lithium, cobalt and nickel required to hit their 2030 electric car sales targets. The conclusion comes from analysis of public disclosures by Transport & Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based campaign group.
The world’s two biggest electric carmakers, Tesla in the U.S. and China’s BYD, were significantly further ahead of many of their European rivals in securing access to key raw materials, the researchers found.
Julia Poliscanova, senior director for vehicles and emobility at T&E, said it was supply chain strategies that would “make or break the EV transition in Europe, and render some companies obsolete.” However, she added that European manufacturers were ahead of rivals from China and the U.S. in “cleaning up supply chains.”
The EU and U.K. will ban the sale of new fossil fuel cars in 2035.
