The semiconductor outage during and after the Covid pandemic served as a lesson for automakers. They learned the pain that the shortage of certain components could knock out their factories and create a blackout in production and sales.
Now, they are on the lookout on all continents to secure their needs for critical materials necessary for electrification. Resources that they will need in large quantities and at a reasonable price to succeed in lowering the cost of batteries and, in turn, that of electric vehicles which are still too expensive. The automobile giants are not content with weaving a global network of giga-battery factories in which they have invested billions.