DJ the way I see it is this.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...plies-in-shift-to-electric-cars-idUSKCN1BX1RE
Then we have this
https://www.ft.com/content/297d7d4a-b002-11e7-aab9-abaa44b1e130
So first VW tries to lock up massive cobalt supply contracts and then a little while later cobalt suppliers say they have knocked them back,
The question is was VW ever serious about locking up those supplies? Just by doing that the price of Cobalt has shot up. Think the price was in the low $50k range when they started their attempt to lock up supplies.
If I was an emerging EV maker I would be putting a fire under the price of cobalt if I had an alternative battery that did not use cobalt. Get all those other ev battery makers committing to cobalt purchase contracts at huge prices which seem to be going up as quick as bitcoin.
Then when VW announce they are using a cobalt free battery and can make ev's cheaper than anyone else it is game over. As stated at the AGM, Magnis/C4V has a 40% cheaper cost advantage on the cathodes over its competitors. Not sure how much cheaper the anode side is but with the chemistry genius of Frank Houllis and the patent they hold I would think much cheaper. Face it every other wannabe graphite producer out there has tried to achieve the purity levels Magnis have without using acids and failed.
Will VW end up using Magnis/C4V batteries? Imo they would have to be considering it. Partnering with giants of the industry who know what the next boom is is just the beginning,
Call them Gigafactories or Gigadreams. One thing for sure is the companies they are in partnerships with are very very real.
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