Tesla wants the ball to be in its court as far as the electric batteries are concerned. It is planning to secure minerals to make electric batteries for its electric vehicles by getting into mining business. This statement was given by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla in one of their annual meetings for shareholders. Tesla is launching an all-electric semi-truck of class eight by 2020 ending and also an electric pickup truck. But, the production for these trucks is only possible if Tesla has enough lithium ion batteries manufactured to run these trucks. The whole getting into mining business plan is aligned with this objective.
Tesla does not want to add more products to its product line as it would be a waste of time and energy if there are not enough batteries. It will be a complex transaction for Tesla. Tesla built Gigafactory 1 with an objective of producing its Model 3 vehicles and batteries. Apart from this they are also manufacturing products to store energy. This facility is located in Nevada and was built with a sole objective of reducing EV’s cost. Tesla needs to align it production with rolling out of the products. Elon Musk is often heard saying that Tesla wants to increase the production to a very high level and getting into the mining business will help them achieve their goals to some extent.
Tesla does not want to leave any stone unturned to fasten its production rate. Fluctuating lithium, nickel and copper supply has become a global problem and production of electric batteries has been hit by it the most. Tesla like many other companies is worried with this situation and plans to do something about it. The mining business project could be an outcome of this worry. Poor availability of these minerals is due to the negligent outlook of industries towards sustainable supply of lithium, copper and nickel.