International nickel prices have soared due to the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and for the automobile industry, the most affected is the electric vehicle. Previously, because of the small global content of cobalt metal, they began to develop high-nickel battery alternatives. However, in recent days, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, nickel prices have risen sharply in a short period of time, making the cost of batteries rise sharply. Tesla has also reacted quickly in a short period of time, and the official website of the United States has increased the price of models such as the Model 3 and Model Y's Long Range by $1,000.
Since the end of last year, the international nickel price has continued to rise, so Tesla decided to replace its Standard Range models with a lower cost lithium iron phosphate battery. Long Range and Performance models still maintain the use of nickel-cobalt aluminum lithium batteries, nickel and cobalt prices are already quite tight, but with the start of the war, Europe and the United States embargo Russian nickel, resulting in international nickel prices in 48 hours even appeared 250% increase, the highest intraday has reached more than 100,000 US dollars per ton. Many believe that this is the biggest crisis that the London Metal Exchange has encountered since its inception.
Tesla has raised its products several times since the beginning of 2021, taking the Model 3 Longe Range model as an example, from $48,000 to $51,990 now. Although the Model 3 Performance model also uses nickel-containing batteries, there has been no news of price increases; although both the Model Y Long Range and performance models have increased by $1,000 to $59,990 and $64,990, of which the Model Y Long Range has increased by about $10,000 in the past 12 months.
However, Russia supplies about 10% of the world's nickel metal, and this gap is difficult to close in a short period of time. Although Indonesia, which produces 30% of the world's mass production, has decided to increase production, it will take some time for nickel prices to stabilize. Therefore, it is expected that after Tesla takes the lead in adjusting the price, there should be other car manufacturers to follow.