One of the difficult sticking points for EVs is sourcing materials for them, especially because one country dominates that market: China. According to Reuters, the country controls 90% of magnet and metal production using rare earths, 85% of rare earth refining capacity, and 70% of the mining for the rare earth materials in the first place. It leaves automakers from all countries, not just the US, extremely dependent on the country for those materials in both electric and combustion vehicles. It also makes them vulnerable to changes in how China decides to distribute those parts and materials. That’s forcing automakers to take steps to avoid problems, and Reuters reports that one of Hyundai’s strategies is having big stockpiles to keep the flow of Ioniq 5s and more, flowing.
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