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Megafactories are here","the-megafactories-are-here","article/the-megafactories-are-here",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":1091,"featured":50,"reporter":1092,"_editable":1096,"component":1097,"seo_title":553,"categories":1098,"visibility":1108,"author_company":49,"featured_image":1109,"seo_description":1091,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":1114,"formattedArticleDate":1115},"0063e1e8-2cdb-4523-960f-2648ab752312","2018-10-17 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,581,586,591,597,603,608,613,618,623,628,635,640,645,650,655,660,665,670,686,691,698,707,712,717,723,729,733,737,743,748,753,767,777,782,789,794,799,804,809,814,819,824,829,834,839,844,849,854,859,871,876,885,890,895,900,906,911,916,921,926,931,936,941,947,956,962,967,972,977,982,987,992,999,1004,1009,1017,1022,1027,1032,1037,1045,1050,1057,1065,1070,1078,1083,1088],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":577},"heading",{"level":576,"textAlign":49},3,[578],{"text":579,"type":580},"Elon Musk’s dream of building a battery plant big enough to power hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles is now a reality.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":582,"content":583},{"level":576,"textAlign":49},[584],{"text":585,"type":580},"The Gigafactory 1 produces as many lithium ion cells as the rest of the world did when Tesla was planning the super-battery plant. Inadvertently, this has sparked a battery arms race seeing 50 megafactories enter the pipeline and 30 become operational in only three-and-a-half years.",{"type":574,"attrs":587,"content":588},{"level":576,"textAlign":49},[589],{"text":590,"type":580},"Benchmark Mineral Intelligence declares: The lithium ion battery megafactories are here.",{"type":574,"attrs":592,"content":594},{"level":593,"textAlign":49},6,[595],{"text":596,"type":580},"By Simon Moores",{"type":598,"attrs":599,"content":600},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":580},"It’s not just going to be the biggest lithium ion battery factory in the world, but it will actually be bigger than the sum of all lithium ion factories in the world.”",{"type":598,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"text":607,"type":580},"This was how Elon Musk announced Tesla’s Gigafactory back in 2014, sparking a worldwide lithium ion battery arms race.",{"type":598,"attrs":609,"content":610},{"textAlign":49},[611],{"text":612,"type":580},"Four years ago, the concept of a battery megafactory was alien in an industry that was global but niche and geared for the smartphone, laptop and powertool markets.",{"type":598,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616],{"text":617,"type":580},"At the time, the world’s lithium ion battery output was 40GWh yet the Gigafactory alone was promising to produce way beyond this by 2020.",{"type":598,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":580},"It was a vision that not only required unheard of growth for Tesla but a complete shift in the way the world viewed electric vehicles (EVs) and an about-turn for the internal combustion engine (ICE) auto industry.",{"type":598,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626],{"text":627,"type":580},"This seismic shift has taken place.",{"type":598,"attrs":629,"content":630},{"textAlign":49},[631,633],{"text":632,"type":580},"The world’s biggest car makers have",{"text":634,"type":580},"committed tens of billions of dollars to enter the EV market and secure lithium ion battery supply.",{"type":598,"attrs":636,"content":637},{"textAlign":49},[638],{"text":639,"type":580},"Volkswagen has promised $80bn of investments between now and 2025, BMW is at $25bn in the same timeframe, including $1.2bn contract for batteries with CATL, and Ford Motor Co has a $30bn pot for a similar strategy.",{"type":598,"attrs":641,"content":642},{"textAlign":49},[643],{"text":644,"type":580},"But if you think this is significant, think again. China dwarfs this.",{"type":598,"attrs":646,"content":647},{"textAlign":49},[648],{"text":649,"type":580},"The rise of the Chinese EV unicorns – start-ups valued at over $1bn and profiled in Benchmark Quarterly Review Q2 – is driving the country’s EV investments through the roof.",{"type":598,"attrs":651,"content":652},{"textAlign":49},[653],{"text":654,"type":580},"New producers such as WM Motor Technology, BAIC BJEV, Bayton, NIO, Xiapeng, CHJ Automotive, Youxia Motors, and Singulato Motors are all ensuring that China remains firmly on the front foot of the EV path to mass adoption.",{"type":598,"attrs":656,"content":657},{"textAlign":49},[658],{"text":659,"type":580},"These EV unicorn investments doubles down on sums already committed by existing manufacturers such as Geely ($44bn),",{"type":598,"attrs":661,"content":662},{"textAlign":49},[663],{"text":664,"type":580},"Chang’an Automobile Co ($30bn), and SAIC Motor ($30bn) to confirm that EV demand is not a figment of Elon Musk’s imagination but a firm 21st century reality.",{"type":598,"attrs":666,"content":667},{"textAlign":49},[668],{"text":669,"type":580},"The cycle of multi-billion-dollar EV investment followed by the lithium ion megafactory announcement has been a marvel to behold. It has shocked, surprised and intrigued in equal measure and whether industry veterans or newcomers, all agree that this era we are in is unprecedented.",{"type":598,"attrs":671,"content":672},{"textAlign":49},[673,675,677,679,684],{"text":674,"type":580},"New data from ",{"text":676,"type":580},"Benchmark Mineral Intelligence ",{"text":678,"type":580},"shows pipeline lithium ion battery capacity out to 2028 is now at 1.1TWh, as published in our ",{"text":680,"type":580,"marks":681},"Lithium ion Battery Megafactory Assessment ",[682],{"type":683},"italic",{"text":685,"type":580},"subscription service.",{"type":598,"attrs":687,"content":688},{"textAlign":49},[689],{"text":690,"type":580},"This capacity is being constructed in 50 battery megafactories across nine countries. From the Asian stronghold of China, Korea and Japan, to Europe, which is emerging as a major producer of cells in Poland, Hungary and Sweden, and the Gigafactory-dominated North America.",{"type":598,"attrs":692,"content":693},{"textAlign":49},[694,696],{"text":695,"type":580},"30 of these super battery plants are already",{"text":697,"type":580},"operational albeit at smaller capacities than planned as they ramp up to a common timeframe of 2022-2023, when many battery producers believe the first wave of EVs from most auto makers will enter mass production.",{"type":598,"attrs":699,"content":700},{"textAlign":49},[701,703,705],{"text":702,"type":580},"Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 will be the largest lithium ion battery megafactory in the world in 2018 with a capacity of 20GWh and it has already fed deliveries of 83,500 Model 3s in Q3 2018 – more than a doubling from Q2. This will become clear by some way at the end-2019 when ",{"text":704,"type":580},"Benchmark ",{"text":706,"type":580},"expects the plant to ramp to its designed cell capacity of 35GWh and 50GWh of packs.",{"type":598,"attrs":708,"content":709},{"textAlign":49},[710],{"text":711,"type":580},"The Gigafactory 1 has been and continues to be the touchstone for these megafactories.",{"type":598,"attrs":713,"content":714},{"textAlign":49},[715],{"text":716,"type":580},"Within a three-year period, Tesla has built the world’s first and largest integrated lithium ion battery plant – this is a competitive edge that Wall Street analysts fail to recognise time and again.",{"type":598,"attrs":718,"content":719},{"textAlign":49},[720,722],{"text":721,"type":580},"To have a plant which completes the entire process from baking anodes and mixing cathode to producing cells and then making",{"text":697,"type":580},{"type":598,"attrs":724,"content":725},{"textAlign":49},[726,727,728],{"text":702,"type":580},{"text":704,"type":580},{"text":706,"type":580},{"type":598,"attrs":730,"content":731},{"textAlign":49},[732],{"text":711,"type":580},{"type":598,"attrs":734,"content":735},{"textAlign":49},[736],{"text":716,"type":580},{"type":598,"attrs":738,"content":739},{"textAlign":49},[740,741],{"text":721,"type":580},{"text":742,"type":580},"the void for 2019 but it is most likely that the company will need to begin using LG Chem and Samsung SDI cells in its vehicles should Panasonic not be able to meet the demand.",{"type":598,"attrs":744,"content":745},{"textAlign":49},[746],{"text":747,"type":580},"The ramp up of Tesla, however, is quite unique.",{"type":598,"attrs":749,"content":750},{"textAlign":49},[751],{"text":752,"type":580},"It is an insight into what the industry can expect in 2023 when the launch of the majority of new EV models converge.",{"type":598,"attrs":754,"content":755},{"textAlign":49},[756,758,760,762,765],{"text":757,"type":580},"This is another reason why ",{"text":759,"type":580},"Benchmark",{"text":761,"type":580},"’s ",{"text":680,"type":580,"marks":763},[764],{"type":683},{"text":766,"type":580},"focuses on two timeframes of 2023 and 2028.",{"type":598,"attrs":768,"content":769},{"textAlign":49},[770,772,773,775],{"text":771,"type":580},"Plans for 2023 – which you can think of as phase one for these new megafactories – are firm and committed. ",{"text":704,"type":580},{"text":774,"type":580},"has high",{"text":776,"type":580},"confidence that the majority of plants being planned for capacity in this timeframe will be built to service EV producers.",{"type":598,"attrs":778,"content":779},{"textAlign":49},[780],{"text":781,"type":580},"Plans for 2028, however, are less firm and more open to change.",{"type":598,"attrs":783,"content":784},{"textAlign":49},[785,787],{"text":786,"type":580},"Considering it takes between 18 and 24 months to build a battery plant this is understandable.",{"text":788,"type":580},"Battery-makers will not have to make a call on capacity expansions for 2028 until the early 2020s.",{"type":598,"attrs":790,"content":791},{"textAlign":49},[792],{"text":793,"type":580},"Compared to the raw material miners (it takes 7-10 years to fund and build a lithium mine) or the EV makers (it takes 8-12 years to design and build a new car from scratch), they have an easier planning task.",{"type":598,"attrs":795,"content":796},{"textAlign":49},[797],{"text":798,"type":580},"In simple terms, the middle of the lithium ion supply chain moves four times as quickly as each end of the supply chain: the lithium miner and the EV maker.",{"type":598,"attrs":800,"content":801},{"textAlign":49},[802],{"text":803,"type":580},"Race to the bottom?",{"type":598,"attrs":805,"content":806},{"textAlign":49},[807],{"text":808,"type":580},"For lithium ion battery producers, the rise of the megafactories has translated to the race for scale and significant cost reductions.",{"type":598,"attrs":810,"content":811},{"textAlign":49},[812],{"text":813,"type":580},"This is not a race to the bottom – the first to make the cheapest cell possible – as there is a major quality element to each auto makers decision on which battery to use.",{"type":598,"attrs":815,"content":816},{"textAlign":49},[817],{"text":818,"type":580},"Firstly, lithium ion cells have to be safe: a proven safety record is vitally important to EV manufacturers as they ramp up new EV models.",{"type":598,"attrs":820,"content":821},{"textAlign":49},[822],{"text":823,"type":580},"For these cells to be safe, the production methods have to be strict and stringent and most critically, consistent.",{"type":598,"attrs":825,"content":826},{"textAlign":49},[827],{"text":828,"type":580},"The two most critical aspects to making a consistent lithium ion battery are production methods and quality raw materials. This is why the increase of lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite anode raw material supply and, crucially, cathode capacity with it is so vital to the entire EV supply chain.",{"type":598,"attrs":830,"content":831},{"textAlign":49},[832],{"text":833,"type":580},"Cell cost is, however, an unavoidable issue as the industry pushes towards the $100/kWh production cost target.",{"type":598,"attrs":835,"content":836},{"textAlign":49},[837],{"text":838,"type":580},"It is unclear why the industry originally focused on $100/kWh as the target – maybe it was a nice round headline-grabbing number. But the underlying goal was to significantly reduce lithium ion battery costs from the high $260-280/kWh production cost range in 2014.",{"type":598,"attrs":840,"content":841},{"textAlign":49},[842],{"text":843,"type":580},"That goal has now been achieved.",{"type":598,"attrs":845,"content":846},{"textAlign":49},[847],{"text":848,"type":580},"The lithium ion battery production cost for the large scale automotive contracts is under $120/kWh in 2018 with some producers able to reach under $110/kWh with a selling price of between $120-130/kWh.",{"type":598,"attrs":850,"content":851},{"textAlign":49},[852],{"text":853,"type":580},"This marks a 60% decrease in just a four-year period or a compounded average decrease of 16% a year between 2014-2018.",{"type":598,"attrs":855,"content":856},{"textAlign":49},[857],{"text":858,"type":580},"What makes this achievement more remarkable is that the decreases have been reached at a time of surging prices of key raw materials, namely lithium and cobalt.",{"type":598,"attrs":860,"content":861},{"textAlign":49},[862,863,865,869],{"text":759,"type":580},{"text":864,"type":580},"’s CIF Asia Lithium Carbonate, 99.0%, price has risen from $5,800/tonne in January 2014 to a peak of $21,500/tonne in October 2017 – a 270% increase. It has since fallen to $14,500/tonne in our latest September 2018 ",{"text":866,"type":580,"marks":867},"Lithium Price Assessment",[868],{"type":683},{"text":870,"type":580},".",{"type":598,"attrs":872,"content":873},{"textAlign":49},[874],{"text":875,"type":580},"The price fall of some specific Asian grades have cast a shadow of doubt over the lithium industry in 2018. While there is no debate over lithium’s long-term prospects, the supply chain has been awaiting oversupply for some time.",{"type":598,"attrs":877,"content":878},{"textAlign":49},[879,881,883],{"text":880,"type":580},"Ironically the source of this fear – hard rock lithium conversion capacity within China – was not what has sparked the ",{"text":882,"type":580},"Benchmark Minerals ",{"text":884,"type":580},"EXW China and CIF Asia lithium carbonate price fall since May.",{"type":598,"attrs":886,"content":887},{"textAlign":49},[888],{"text":889,"type":580},"This was due to new lower quality brine supply from Qinghai province, the vast majority of which cannot be used in a lithium ion battery and requires significant upgrading or converting into hydroxide.",{"type":598,"attrs":891,"content":892},{"textAlign":49},[893],{"text":894,"type":580},"Sentiment and feeling within China has driven this price down further than anyone expected, yet the financial industry has been misguided in using the China EXW lithium carbonate price as the proxy for the industry’s state of play.",{"type":598,"attrs":896,"content":897},{"textAlign":49},[898],{"text":899,"type":580},"The reality is that a specific grade of Chinese lithium carbonate has been hit hard for a variety of reasons, but the rest of the world prices and Chinese lithium hydroxide remain robust.",{"type":598,"attrs":901,"content":902},{"textAlign":49},[903,904],{"text":676,"type":580},{"text":905,"type":580},"sets the lithium industry’s reference price each month to a lithium-specific methodology and it’s the world’s leading independent specialist in the lithium ion battery supply chain.",{"type":598,"attrs":907,"content":908},{"textAlign":49},[909],{"text":910,"type":580},"In China, lithium carbonate expansions in Qinghai from 15,000 tpa to an expected 25,000 to 30,000 tpa LCE in 2018 have proven a major factor in domestic price declines for lower quality – and not battery grade – material.",{"type":598,"attrs":912,"content":913},{"textAlign":49},[914],{"text":915,"type":580},"This has caused what Lachlan Shaw, UBS’s Head of Commodities Strategy described as a “lithium air pocket” that is not representative of lithium’s longer-term trajectory.",{"type":598,"attrs":917,"content":918},{"textAlign":49},[919],{"text":920,"type":580},"This dip in lithium’s fortunes is a sober reminder that minerals and metals move in cycles and that the industry is heading into the great unknown, which will result in many investor casualties.",{"type":598,"attrs":922,"content":923},{"textAlign":49},[924],{"text":925,"type":580},"We are at the end of the lithium hype and at the beginning of the real story.",{"type":598,"attrs":927,"content":928},{"textAlign":49},[929],{"text":930,"type":580},"Yet this softness in price has been an ideal time for raw material contracts to be agreed.",{"type":598,"attrs":932,"content":933},{"textAlign":49},[934],{"text":935,"type":580},"Ganfeng Lithium has agreed the largest lithium contract of recent memory with LG Chem for 92,600 tonnes LCE over a 7-year period. This was followed up with significant supply deals with Tesla and BMW.",{"type":598,"attrs":937,"content":938},{"textAlign":49},[939],{"text":940,"type":580},"Cobalt, once the most feared raw material by battery producers, has had a tougher 2018 compared to lithium with price decreases being the main industry theme of 2018.",{"type":598,"attrs":942,"content":943},{"textAlign":49},[944,945],{"text":759,"type":580},{"text":946,"type":580},"’s cobalt sulphate price, 25% CoSO4, EXW China, has doubled from $9,087/tonne January 2017 to a peak of $22,515/tonne in April 2018 yet it now stands at $13,870/tonne Cobalt Price Assessment.",{"type":598,"attrs":948,"content":949},{"textAlign":49},[950,952,954],{"text":951,"type":580},"Experiencing a similar trajectory, ",{"text":953,"type":580},"Benchmark Minerals",{"text":955,"type":580},"’ Cobalt Battery Metal, 99.8%, EXW Europe price assessment peaked at $96,177/tonne in April 2018 and has fallen to $74,405/tonne in August 2018.",{"type":598,"attrs":957,"content":958},{"textAlign":49},[959,960],{"text":704,"type":580},{"text":961,"type":580},"believes the issue with cobalt began at the end of last year when payables for cobalt hydroxide increased sharply under new supply contract negotiations that were eating into refiners’ margins.",{"type":598,"attrs":963,"content":964},{"textAlign":49},[965],{"text":966,"type":580},"With a backdrop of rising prices, some parts of the supply chain changed payment terms to upfront before delivery where previously they invoiced after delivery.",{"type":598,"attrs":968,"content":969},{"textAlign":49},[970],{"text":971,"type":580},"Cashflow has become an ever-increasing problem in cobalt and has impacted buying patterns which has resulted in hand to mouth purchasing.",{"type":598,"attrs":973,"content":974},{"textAlign":49},[975],{"text":976,"type":580},"At the same time Chinese deleveraging has impacted what little credit is available. Sentiment began to shift in China in April and remains in a similar position today.",{"type":598,"attrs":978,"content":979},{"textAlign":49},[980],{"text":981,"type":580},"Other demand-side factors that have affected cobalt’s price fortunes include China’s introduction of a new subsidy policy that has further impacted raw material purchases as lithium ion battery cell and auto manufacturers adjusted to the new policy.",{"type":598,"attrs":983,"content":984},{"textAlign":49},[985],{"text":986,"type":580},"When these raw material prices settle at a lower long-term price as more supply enters the market and longer-term contracts are agreed, the cost of lithium ion cells will fall below the $100/kWh target.",{"type":598,"attrs":988,"content":989},{"textAlign":49},[990],{"text":991,"type":580},"Should the lithium ion battery producer be fully integrated with a battery pack or EV manufacturer, then it is expected that an internal transfer price of under $110/kWh is achievable today.",{"type":598,"attrs":993,"content":994},{"textAlign":49},[995,997],{"text":996,"type":580},"The reality, however, for the majority of",{"text":998,"type":580},"battery producers is that in 2018 they are operating at a higher level for both production cost and selling price.",{"type":598,"attrs":1000,"content":1001},{"textAlign":49},[1002],{"text":1003,"type":580},"For example, the Chinese producer CATL produces lithium ion battery cells for $137/kWh in H1 2018 and has an average selling price of $217/kWh.",{"type":598,"attrs":1005,"content":1006},{"textAlign":49},[1007],{"text":1008,"type":580},"More plants, bigger plants",{"type":598,"attrs":1010,"content":1011},{"textAlign":49},[1012,1014,1015],{"text":1013,"type":580},"When ",{"text":676,"type":580},{"text":1016,"type":580},"declared that the Megafactories are Coming in 2015, we were tracking 3 in the pipeline: Tesla’s Gigafactory, LG Chem’s Nanjing plant, and Foxconn, the Apple iPhone maker, and its ambitions to enter the battery industry.",{"type":598,"attrs":1018,"content":1019},{"textAlign":49},[1020],{"text":1021,"type":580},"Taiwan’s Foxconn pulled out of its plans to build a megafactory 18 months later and instead invested $1.4bn for a 1.19% stake in CATL.",{"type":598,"attrs":1023,"content":1024},{"textAlign":49},[1025],{"text":1026,"type":580},"LG Chem, however, pushed on with Nanjing and launched the plant in 2016 with a capacity of 2GWh. It now can produce up to 20GWh at the site in eastern China’s Jiangsu province and is planning a second plant with a target capacity of 28GWh by 2023.",{"type":598,"attrs":1028,"content":1029},{"textAlign":49},[1030],{"text":1031,"type":580},"The trend in 2018 has been quite clear: battery plants are becoming more numerous and bigger. In 2017, 17 battery megafactories were announced with a cumulative pipeline capacity of 153GWh, an average of 6.65GWh per plant. In 2018 to 31 September 2018, 24 battery megafactories have been announced with a cumulative pipeline capacity of 286GWh, nearly double 2017’s average at 11.9GWh per plant.",{"type":598,"attrs":1033,"content":1034},{"textAlign":49},[1035],{"text":1036,"type":580},"It is clear that the once conservative lithium ion battery industry has gained the confidence to not only announce these super-battery plants but put their construction into action.",{"type":598,"attrs":1038,"content":1039},{"textAlign":49},[1040,1042,1043],{"text":1041,"type":580},"Back in ",{"text":759,"type":580},{"text":1044,"type":580},"’s original ‘Battery Megafactories are here’ feature in 2015, we predicted that the lithium ion supply chain would need “billions of dollars of investment” to build new lithium ion capacity and new lithium mines to supply this growth.",{"type":598,"attrs":1046,"content":1047},{"textAlign":49},[1048],{"text":1049,"type":580},"Three and a half years later you can reread this as tens of billions of dollars of investment.",{"type":598,"attrs":1051,"content":1052},{"textAlign":49},[1053,1055],{"text":1054,"type":580},"More precisely, upwards of $60bn for new",{"text":1056,"type":580},"lithium ion capacity to 2025 and $12bn dollars into new lithium mines and expansions.",{"type":598,"attrs":1058,"content":1059},{"textAlign":49},[1060,1062,1063],{"text":1061,"type":580},"At present, ",{"text":704,"type":580},{"text":1064,"type":580},"is expecting lithium ion megafactory capacity to be at 600GWh by 2025, of which 200GWh is already in place. This will take between $48bn and $60bn worth of total investments to achieve, of which it is fair to assume 40% of this – or $24bn – is already committed capital.",{"type":598,"attrs":1066,"content":1067},{"textAlign":49},[1068],{"text":1069,"type":580},"For lithium, we expect that $12bn will be needed to create the new 480,000 tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) of supply to feed these megafactories of which $8bn has been raised before the IPO of Ganfeng Lithium, Tianqi Lithium and Livent (see Lead News).",{"type":598,"attrs":1071,"content":1072},{"textAlign":49},[1073,1075,1076],{"text":1074,"type":580},"Then if we look at investments into new EV production, the chart will likely need to be redrawn with a new taller axis. At present in Q3 2018, ",{"text":704,"type":580},{"text":1077,"type":580},"is tracking $296bn of direct investment into EVs and battery pack production.",{"type":598,"attrs":1079,"content":1080},{"textAlign":49},[1081],{"text":1082,"type":580},"In total, if you take nickel, graphite anode, cobalt, and the cathode materials used to make the lithium ion cells, the total supply chain investments needed by 2025 will exceed $410bn, of which an average of 30% has been committed.",{"type":598,"attrs":1084,"content":1085},{"textAlign":49},[1086],{"text":1087,"type":580},"The megafactories are here but the rest of the supply chain is still playing catch up.",{"type":598,"attrs":1089,"content":1090},{"textAlign":49},[],"Elon Musk’s dream of building a battery plant big enough to power hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles is now a reality. The Gigafactory 1 produces as many lithium ion cells as the rest of the world did when Tesla was planning the super-battery plant. Inadvertently, this has sparked a battery arms race seeing 50 […]",[1093],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":1094},{"job_title":565,"image":1095,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"0063e1e8-2cdb-4523-960f-2648ab752312\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[1099,1102,1105],{"slug":1100,"name":1101},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":1103,"name":1104},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":1106,"name":1107},"gigafactories","Battery & Gigafactory","private",{"id":49,"alt":1110,"name":1110,"focus":1110,"title":1110,"source":1110,"filename":1111,"copyright":1110,"fieldtype":1112,"meta_data":1113,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/1e6d3b4804/bm-screen-shot-2018-10-17-at-064147.png","asset",{"alt":1110,"title":1110,"source":1110,"copyright":1110},"Oct 17, 2018","17th October 2018",[],[],1789982601898]