Why Tesla, Rivals Could Find It Tough To Launch Affordable EVs If Russia-Ukraine War Keeps Raging

Prices of nickel and other key electric-vehicle materials have skyrocketed as the Russia-Ukraine war has sparked supply worries, and could throw a wrench into the plans of Tesla Inc TSLA and its rivals to launch cheaper cars, according to media reports.

What Happened: Nickel prices soared 62% on Monday to an almost 15-year high of over $40,000 a ton on the London Metal Exchange amid a historic Russia supply squeeze, as per data from Bloomberg News.

Nickel is a key element in making lithium-ion batteries that power EVs.

“The nickel market is the tightest it has been since the commodity supercycle during the 2000s,” the report quoted a research note by Citigroup Inc C analysts.

See Also: Lithium Prices Point To Rising EV Prices In 2022

Why It Matters: The Ukraine conflict has piled onto existing problems of global supply chain snarls and a chip crunch, and could mark the first year-over-year increase in the average price of lithium-ion battery cells, as per a Reuters analysis, which cited Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Russia's Nornickel also caters to around 20% of global supplies of high purity class 1 nickel used in EV batteries, according to the report.

Elon Musk-led Tesla raised EV prices last year, while Rivian Automotive Inc RIVN had to roll back price hikes of up to 20% due to an online backlash and threat of cancellations.

See Also: Rivian Faces Growing Online Backlash After Increasing Car Prices, Thousands Claim To Cancel Orders

The average price of an EV in the United States was $63,000 in January, 35% higher than the overall industry average for all vehicles, according to research firm Cox Automotive.

Price Action: Tesla stock closed 4% lower at $804.6 a share on Monday.