Since their inception, many have criticized Tesla and other EV manufacturers for being less eco-friendly than they purport to be. While electric vehicles aren’t burning oil and don’t emit harmful gasses, there’s another layer to consider: producing batteries isn’t the cleanest business.
Not only is the process of mining the raw battery materials itself not environmentally friendly, but the mines are often accused of less than great waste disposal practices. Tesla took some action towards remedying some of this issue last year when they signed a deal with BHP to obtain nickel from both Australia and New Caledonia. Drew Baglino, an executive at Tesla, cited the brand’s intentions in a press release saying that “Responsible sourcing of battery materials has long been a focus for Tesla”.
Now, they’re taking another step in that same direction. This time though, they’re sourcing nickel from the USA through a company called Talon Metals. Talon says that they’re working on a way to bind carbon dioxide to rocks from their plant in Minnesota. If successful, it would allow Talon to market their nickel as carbon neutral.
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“This agreement is the start of an innovative partnership between Tesla and Talon for the responsible production of battery materials directly from the mine to the battery cathode. Talon is committed to meeting the highest standards of responsible production that is fully traceable and that has the lowest embedded CO2 footprint in the industry. Talon is excited to support Tesla’s mission to accelerate the transition to renewable energy,” said the CEO of Talon, Henri van Rooyen.
That would provide a win for Elon Musk and Tesla in more ways than one. Sure, the press would be good but there’s more to it than the tagline “produced from carbon-neutral nickel mining”. However, Tesla is also locking down a major component source before demand skyrockets in the coming years. Electric vehicles might be a bit of a luxury right now, but the industry (and many governments) sees them as the wave of the not-too-distant future.
Under the new deal, Talon Metals will sell at least 165 million pounds of nickel to Tesla over the next six years. The price of the nickel will be linked to the London Metals Exchange official price for nickel. In addition to the nickel, Talon will also supply unspecified amounts of cobalt and iron ore.