Elon Musk likes this Tesla rival to make its own EV batteries
Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk has reacted to news that rival Volkswagen AG VWAGY is building its own electric vehicle batteries.
What happened: Musk tweeted "Awesome!" in response to a Slashdot article that Tesla's German rival was announcing a $20 billion effort to build its own electric vehicle batteries.
Volkswagen will create a new company called Power Co to build batteries while trying to ensure sufficient capacity, according to Slashdot.
Why it matters: It was recently announced that BYD Co BYDDY, backed by Warren Buffett, would begin supplying batteries to Tesla. The Musk-led company also sources its supplies from China's CATL, the world's largest manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles, which also supplies Volkswagen.
Musk recently dismissed a Bloomberg Intelligence forecast that Volkswagen could become the top maker of electric vehicles by 2024.
Volkswagen expects half of its global sales to be electric vehicles by 2030 and sold 8.6 million vehicles worldwide last year, of which 452,900 were vehicles battery electric. In contrast, Tesla sold nearly one million electric vehicles in 2021.
Price Action: On Thursday, shares of Tesla closed up 5.5% at $733.63 in the regular session and fell 0.4% in the exchanges after normal business hours. On the same day, Volkswagen OTC shares jumped 5.5% to $18.24 in regular hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Benzinga's view: While Volkswagen has become a powerful rival to Tesla, especially in Europe, making batteries can be a tough proposition. Recently, the CEO of Rivian Automotive Inc RIVN, R.J. Scaringe spoke about the shortages of raw materials needed to manufacture batteries. These shortages extend to cobalt, lithium and nickel. According to Scaringe, 90% to 95% of the supply chain simply doesn't exist.
Read more: Volkswagen says US could face challenges many challenges to increase EV battery power
Photo via BoJack on Shutterstock
© 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk has reacted to news that rival Volkswagen AG VWAGY is building its own electric vehicle batteries.
What happened: Musk tweeted "Awesome!" in response to a Slashdot article that Tesla's German rival was announcing a $20 billion effort to build its own electric vehicle batteries.
Volkswagen will create a new company called Power Co to build batteries while trying to ensure sufficient capacity, according to Slashdot.
Why it matters: It was recently announced that BYD Co BYDDY, backed by Warren Buffett, would begin supplying batteries to Tesla. The Musk-led company also sources its supplies from China's CATL, the world's largest manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles, which also supplies Volkswagen.
Musk recently dismissed a Bloomberg Intelligence forecast that Volkswagen could become the top maker of electric vehicles by 2024.
Volkswagen expects half of its global sales to be electric vehicles by 2030 and sold 8.6 million vehicles worldwide last year, of which 452,900 were vehicles battery electric. In contrast, Tesla sold nearly one million electric vehicles in 2021.
Price Action: On Thursday, shares of Tesla closed up 5.5% at $733.63 in the regular session and fell 0.4% in the exchanges after normal business hours. On the same day, Volkswagen OTC shares jumped 5.5% to $18.24 in regular hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Benzinga's view: While Volkswagen has become a powerful rival to Tesla, especially in Europe, making batteries can be a tough proposition. Recently, the CEO of Rivian Automotive Inc RIVN, R.J. Scaringe spoke about the shortages of raw materials needed to manufacture batteries. These shortages extend to cobalt, lithium and nickel. According to Scaringe, 90% to 95% of the supply chain simply doesn't exist.
Read more: Volkswagen says US could face challenges many challenges to increase EV battery power
Photo via BoJack on Shutterstock
© 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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