Prices of some of the raw materials used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles continue to soar, the latest data shows. Lithium carbonate rose by 14,000 yuan/ton today, and the latest quotation was 380,000 yuan/ton; lithium hydroxide rose by 10,500 yuan to 11,500 yuan per ton, and lithium iron phosphate, the cathode material, rose by 7,500 yuan per ton.
On February 7, the price of battery-grade lithium hydroxide was 310,000 yuan/ton, and it will exceed 320,000 yuan/ton after rising today. Today's lithium iron phosphate price is 140,000 yuan / ton. The price has continued to rise steadily recently, and the supply is seriously insufficient.
In the past two years, the price of raw materials for lithium batteries has really gone crazy. Previous data showed that the price of lithium carbonate raw materials was around 50,000 yuan/ton in January last year, and exceeded 300,000 yuan/ton for the first time in January this year. Soared to 380,000 yuan / ton. In just one year, the price has increased nearly 8 times, almost one price per day, which is crazy.
Last year, the world's major car companies were rapidly transitioning to electric vehicles, resulting in a severe shortage of lithium batteries and soaring prices of various raw materials. This year, the development of the electric vehicle market will accelerate. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and other car companies will also accelerate the electrification process and launch more electric models. This is bound to make the supply of lithium batteries more tight, and the price of raw materials will rise accordingly.
The rise in the price of raw materials for lithium batteries will inevitably lead to an increase in the price of electric vehicles. It is understood that when the price of lithium batteries is stable, the cost of automobile batteries accounts for about 40% of the cost of the whole vehicle. Equivalent to an electric car priced at 200,000 yuan, the cost of a lithium battery is 80,000 yuan. Today, the price of raw materials for lithium batteries has doubled, and the cost of batteries is sure to rise sharply. A car that originally cost only 200,000 yuan is now estimated to rise to more than 250,000 yuan.
