Jeep maker Stellantis NV on Monday announced it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with a supplier for raw materials needed to build electric-vehicle batteries.
The agreement between Stellantis and GME Resources Limited — which owns a nickel and cobalt project in western Australia — is the latest example of automakers moving to shore up supplies of key raw materials deep into the supply chain to meet the capacity for their EV plans.
The deal with GME is for the "future sale of quantities of battery grade nickel and cobalt sulphate products" from the NiWest Nickel-Cobalt Project, according to a news release. That project is expected to produce approximately 90,000 tons per year of battery-grade nickel and cobalt sulphate for electric vehicles. A feasibility study for the project is slated to start this month, according to Stellantis and GME.
"Every day, Stellantis is working to provide our customers clean, safe, affordable, cutting-edge freedom of mobility," Maxime Picat, chief purchasing and supply chain officer for the transatlantic automaker, said in a statement. "Securing the raw material sources and battery supply will strengthen Stellantis' value chain for electric vehicle battery production and equally important, help the company achieve its aggressive decarbonization target."
Stellantis has said it plans to transition 100% of its passenger sales mix in Europe to battery electric vehicles by 2030. And by that time, it expects for half of its passenger car and light-duty truck sales mix in the U.S. to be battery electric. It aims to be carbon neutral by 2038.
In a statement, Paul Kopejtka, managing director of GME, said that a definitive agreement with Stellantis "would be a critical step in being able to progress the NiWest Project through to commercial operations" and said that GME hopes the MOU is "the first step in a long-term partnership."
Across the industry, automakers have been working to secure raw materials for EV batteries in response to government policies and growing consumer demand for all-electric vehicles.
Earlier this year, Stellantis inked deals with Vulcan Energy and Controlled Thermal Resources for supplies of lithium hydroxide for Europe and North America, respectively.
General Motors Co. earlier this year announced new supply agreements that it said would help secure all of the raw materials it needs for EV batteries to meet a 2025 goal of having 1 million units of annual EV capacity in North America. And in July, Ford Motor Co. executives detailed several deals the company reached to shore up raw materials for battery production as they announced that the automaker had secured 100% of the battery capacity it needs to hit annual EV production capacity of 600,000 units by the end of next year.
All three Detroit automakers have announced joint ventures to produce EV batteries in North America.
