Automakers partner with mines as electric cars rely on raw materials for batteries

Automakers partner with mines as electric cars rely on raw materials for batteries

Transcript²

As automakers move to expand electric vehicle production, not enough raw materials — such as lithium — are being mined for batteries. Automakers are now directly sourcing raw materials from mines.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Do these high gas prices have you thinking about buying an electric car? Automakers would love to sell you one. They're betting their futures³ on it. But this big transition depends on mining, digging a lot of stuff out of the ground, minerals like lithium, nickel and cobalt that go into those giant batteries. As NPR's Camila Domonoske reports, this existential challenge is remaking the auto¹ industry.

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE⁴: When automakers want, say, a steel part, they don't call up an iron mine. They call up a supplier, who calls their supplier, who calls their supplier. But as automakers stake hundreds of billions of dollars on battery-powered cars, they can't be sure the supply chain will deliver what they need. For instance, they'll need more lithium than the world even makes right now.

ERIC NORRIS: You can't just go and secure supply 'cause it doesn't exist for the future. It has to be built.

DOMONOSKE: Eric Norris is an executive at a major lithium producer called Albemarle. Over the last year or so, his company started getting calls from automakers, which never used to happen.

NORRIS: We went from, who is Albemarle? - to, we need to be partnered with Albemarle.

DOMONOSKE: It's not just Albemarle. It's everywhere - GM investing in a California mine, BMW buying lithium from an Australian mine, Volkswagen signing contracts with a German one. Companies are still focused on putting parts together with robots and assembly lines, like this.

(SOUNDBITE OF ASSEMBLY LINE AMBIENCE)

DOMONOSKE: But now they're also thinking about raw materials, like this...

(SOUNDBITE OF PUMPING WATER)

DOMONOSKE: ...The lithium-rich water that Albemarle is pumping in Chile. And to help wrap your head around the change that's happening here, it might help to think about...

(SOUNDBITE OF ICE CREAM TRUCK JINGLE)

DOMONOSKE: ...Ice cream. You could buy a scoop⁵ from a truck or a tub at a supermarket. Or you could buy milk and make your own ice cream if you wanted to get more involved. But an automaker ordering minerals directly from Albemarle - that would be like calling up a farmer to order up a cow because you want ice cream next year. It's way more work. Like a lot of things about electric vehicles, Tesla led the way. They've talked to mines for years. Vivas Kumar used to work at Tesla, sourcing battery materials.

VIVAS KUMAR: It was a matter of survival to get reliable, consistent supply of the materials used to make battery cells that go into the vehicles.

DOMONOSKE: Now every automaker sees this as a matter of survival. Raw materials could determine how many electric vehicles they can make at what cost. Scott Keogh is the CEO of Volkswagen of America. He says this moment is transformative, but it's also kind of a throwback.

SCOTT KEOGH: The historical automotive business was deeply integrated. You would have rubber plants in Brazil and steel manufacturing plants, and you had all of this on your books.

DOMONOSKE: But the modern auto industry was pushed by investors⁶ to split up and just buy rubber and steel from suppliers. To use the ice cream metaphor⁷, why own the cow when you can buy the milk for cheap?

KEOGH: And that's been the story for the last three decades, four decades.

DOMONOSKE: Now the industry is going in reverse, not just on lithium but on a range of mined goods that go into batteries.

KEOGH: We are not going to become a mining company. But certainly, we will get significantly closer.

DOMONOSKE: This shift could shake up the mining industry. From child labor⁸ in the Congo to pollution and deadly accidents around the world, an anonymous⁹ mine can often shrug¹⁰ off a bad reputation. But automakers care a lot about what the public thinks about them. Aimee Boulanger is with the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance. She says automakers are pushing mines for more transparency and audits¹¹ of their practices. She compared it to the way activism over blood diamonds helped reform mines, except bigger.

AIMEE BOULANGER: When the auto sector¹² came in, they changed everything because the volume of what they buy is so different than all the others. That was the moment.

DOMONOSKE: Meanwhile, for automakers, getting involved so early in the supply chain is expensive, and it carries some risks. But with their futures riding on electric vehicles, companies say they can't afford not to dig into mining.

Camila Domonoske, NPR News.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

10 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

11 audits   

n.审计，查账( audit的名词复数 )v.审计，查账( audit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Requires that use of all bond funds is subject to independent audits. 需要使用的所有债券基金是受独立审计。 来自互联网
• Support the locations during customer-visits, audits and quality-improvement programs. 支持客户参观，稽核和提高品质等项目。 来自互联网

12 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。