Sourcing and production of high-performance low-volume electric vehicle batteries

Abstract

Over the past decades, there has been substantial development and enhancements within the automotive industry. Due to increases in greenhouse gas emissions from diesel and gasoline engine vehicles, substantial growth in electric vehicle sales has taken place. That has undeniably led to an increment in demand for electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries. These recent developments have led to new and niche markets to be acquired, one of which is the luxury high-performance segment which requires electric vehicle batteries with exponential characteristics in terms of capacity, range, performance, power, and overall quality and safety. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate how it is for a low-volume manufacturing company to source high-performance lithium-ion batteries for hyper electric vehicles. To find the most suitable sourcing strategy for a luxury electric vehicle manufacturing startup sourcing a scarce product of high importance, the supply management matrix from Kraljic will be looked at. Moreover, what kind of challenges and risks can occur during sourcing. In the end, processes of producing lithium-ion batteries, state-of-the-art production technologies that are being used, and potential risks and errors that can occur during production will be investigated.