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Both for the Tesla-Panasonic fallout and the Volkswagen- Samsung fallout, I’ve been unable to understand what caused the conflict? Can somebody with more insig
by konschubert 7y ago
Both for the Tesla-Panasonic fallout and the Volkswagen- Samsung fallout, I’ve been unable to understand what caused the conflict?
Can somebody with more insight than me explain?
Further question: Are these unrelated cases? Or is there a broader market dynamic at the root of both?
- konschubert 7y agoSince nobody has answered, here is my take on the Volkswagen-Samsung deal. - Samsung got a better offer from somebody else du to high demand - Or: The prices of raw material have increased due to high demand and Samsung needs to raise prices to be profitable. - Volkswagen is unable or unwilling to match that higher price. - To save face, Samsung is still delivering some of the capacity to the originally agreed-on price. In other words, prices for batteries are rising and they are making it hard to produce EVs at the competitive prices that Volkswagen had in mind. Let’s hope that this is a temporary situation and that supply is elastic enough to make prices fall again in the mid term. Or else, the EV revolution is in trouble :/
- Scoundreller 7y agoI predict that electric vehicles will be so expensive up-front and so efficient that nobody will personally own them. They’ll exclusively be structured as pools of rentals, with or without a driver.
- rasz 7y agoThere are industries using Lithium-ion batteries with insane margins (tools for example). Perhaps battery manufacturers are fighting commodification and subsequent price drop. On the other hand I wouldnt be surprised if Panasonic was in talks with Honda/Toyota about the future, and preparing to exit Tesla deal. Same for Samsung and Hyundai/Kia.