General Motors and Ford are doing what they can to reassure investors they will have enough electric-vehicle batteries to take on Tesla in the coming years. True security of supply, though, is shaping up to be a long-term challenge.
GM announced two deals alongside weak second-quarter results on Tuesday. One was with Korean chemicals giant LG Chem for five million EVs’ worth of so-called cathode active materials (CAM), which make up about 40% of the cost of battery cells. The other was with U.S. miner Livent for a key input, lithium hydroxide. Ford made a similar raft of supply agreements public last week.