Tesla does nickel deal with Vale

Tesla has reportedly secured an undisclosed nickel supply deal with Brazil-based mining firm Vale, keeping its EV battery production on track.

A vital battery component, nickel was already rising in price before Russia’s war in Ukraine kicked the cost of nickel even further down the road.

Bloomberg News says Tesla has been signing deals with several nickel suppliers since 2021, including Vale, saying the arrangement covers nickel from Canada.

Tesla has also been using non-nickel batteries in entry-level EVs and has been working on its own battery tech, including 4680 cells.

Vale is one of the world’s largest nickel producers and it has operations in about 30 countries.

Tesla has nickel agreements with other mining companies too, including BHP in Australia.