Unlike most other major automakers, Tesla has sought to make its own battery cells and buy raw materials directly from metal producers.
Tesla listed Vale as a direct supplier of nickel for batteries, sourcing the metal from an integrated mine and refining site in Canada, which was first reported by BloombergNews in March. The report also details agreements with producers such as AlbemarleCorp., LiventCorp. and Sichuan Yahua Industrial GroupCo. from China for lithium supplies.
As the electric vehicle market leader’s battery supply chain continues to scale, Tesla expects the share of directly sourced minerals to grow. It already has agreements with nine mining and chemical companies to supply more than 95% of its lithium, more than half of its cobalt and more than a third of its nickel, according to the report.
The 144-page annual presentation covers the Austin, Texas-based company’s environmental impact, supply chain, recycling, and diversity and inclusion efforts.
Tesla confirmed that its health insurance policies included travel and lodging for employees who had to seek health care services out of state. That has become increasingly relevant because Texas has made it increasingly difficult to have an abortion, and the state would ban the procedure entirely if the US Supreme Court overturns its ruling barring such a move.
The New York Times previously reported on the provision of health care.
Tesla also provided previously undisclosed statistics on the racial breakdown of workers in the US based on private filings it submits each year to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). However, unlike competitors including General MotorsCo. (GM) and Ford MotorCo. (F) only itemized percentages and not raw numbers for employees in each category, a practice that diversity experts say can hide weaknesses depending on how jobs are classified.
Tesla selected a handful of companies to argue that their racial representation compares favorably with the tech and auto industries. Its Hispanic workforce at the end of 2021 was much larger than Ford and GM, the only two automakers it was compared to, though the advantage was much smaller for professional and executive roles.
On the other hand, Tesla was underrepresented for black workers compared to the two Detroit-based competitors.
The EEOC provides more comprehensive industry data each year that could put Tesla’s numbers into more perspective, but it hasn’t yet provided the numbers for 2021.
Tesla said its global workforce grew 40% in 2021. CEO Elon Musk recently tweeted that he has more than 110,000 “direct jobs” worldwide.
By Dana Hull and David Stringer and Ed Ludlow, Bloomberg Agency
Source: Ambito
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