source:Automotive News
The growing demand for electric vehicles is upending the automotive supply chain at a time when it was already stressed by the coronavirus pandemic, rising material prices and semiconductor shortages.
The industry's push for new technologies and solutions is enormous, and R&D work is underway around the industry.
During 2019 and 2020, the world's top 20 automakers alone spent nearly $94 billion on R&D as EV product plans take hold, according to a report last year by the financial firm BDO.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has warned suppliers that they, too, must be prepared to absorb the cost of the technological transition.
'In this transformation of the industry, it's not only about the OEMs,' Tavares said during a late February earnings call. 'It's also about the supplier base.'
The need is for innovations in motors, batteries, materials and production processes to get automakers up and running at mass-production scale in the new EV world.
It is a bumpy road.