India: Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc to set up an electric car manufacturing unit in the great land of opportunities

By: Sahit Muja

The worlds richest man Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc has decided to set up an electric car manufacturing unit in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

“The U.S. firm Tesla will be opening an electric car manufacturing unit in Karnataka,” the state of Karnataka government said in a brief statement.

The electric carmaker incorporated Tesla Motors India and Energy Private Limited with its registered office in the city of Bengaluru in Karnataka, a hub for global technology companies.

 India possesses one of the greatest investment potential in the world today. The worlds second most populated country has a powerful combination of brainpower, entrepreneurial energy, favorable demographics and great natural resources.

The Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades. India has a labor force of over 700 million . Major industries include automobiles, cement, chemicals, consumer electronics, food processing, machinery, mining, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, steel, transportation equipment, and textiles. Textiles, jewelry, engineering goods and software are major export commodities. Crude oil, machinery's, fertilizers, and chemicals are major imports.

India's many attractions have been well-chronicled, but they can't be emphasized enough. Tradition of democracy, respect for the rule of law and widespread fluency in English. These qualities are not easy to find in emerging markets and they give India a huge advantage in the global marketplace. India has emerged as the third largest steel producer, beating Russia and United States. The decrease in demand and sharp production cuts in these countries has apparently propelled India into the top league.

India has huge potential to invest and with the pace of population growth the steel mineral market is the way to go. India is set to overtake China as the world's most populous nation soon.

In 2021 over 2 billion vehicles are used globally as the global warming is destroying gradually are ecosystems through temperature rises, ocean acidification, land degradation water shortages, fire threats, drought, weed and pest invasions, intense storm damage and desert invasion .

Albanian Minerals has secure essential reserves of Nickel and is working to develop new technology to mine and produce finest eco-friendly nickel grade for battery industry.

Elon Musk has a plea for mining companies: “Please mine more nickel.” “ Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way,”

Since lithium is “just like widely available”, according to Musk and Tesla’s scientists, they have eliminated other hard to come by metals like graphite (replace it with sand, obvs) and cobalt from batteries Musk’s prime raw material worry is nickel.

“There is enough lithium in the US to convert the entire US fleet to electric, all the 300 million cars in the US, using only lithium discovered in the US,” said Musk.

Musk said that "Tesla will reach production of 20 million vehicles per year before 2030". 

The global electric automobile market share is increasing and is forecast to continue to grow rapidly in the coming years. Some predictions suggest they will make up more than 90% of vehicles by 2050, most of which will be powered by nickel-containing Li-ion batteries and magnesium batteries.

Using nickel in car batteries offers greater energy density and storage at lower cost, delivering a longer range for vehicles, currently one of the restraints to EV uptake.

Batteries for storage: New nickel-containing battery technology is also playing a role in energy storage systems linked to renewable energy sources. Wind turbines or solar panels generate electricity when the wind or sun is available; modern battery technology allows this energy to be stored for use as and when required.

There are about 3,000 nickel-containing alloys in everyday use, including 300,000 products for consumer, industrial, military, transport, aerospace, marine and architectural applications.

Engineers and scientists are making major discoveries toward lighter cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, home appliances, vessels, computers, sports gears by developing a way to expand the use of magnesium in parts.

Using magnesium sheets to make parts is a significant breakthrough. Magnesium is 75 percent lighter than steel , 50% lighter than titanium, and 33 percent lighter than aluminum.

There is unprecedented interest in magnesium, as sources of sustainable supply for new batteries and significantly lighter alloys. Magnesium will profoundly changed the economic outlook of clean energy sources. Also magnesium can be used to producing hydrogen, wind turbines, robots and capturing carbon dioxide.

The automakers are looking to magnesium to shave the vehicle weight drastically in order to meet these stringent mpg guidelines. Luckily for automakers, almost all of their auto parts, from wheels, engine blocks, panels, and even the entire roof top can be made from magnesium alloys.

Magnesium alloys for medical implants have especially high potential. At half the weight of titanium alloys, magnesium alloys more closely match the density and strength of bone, and they harmlessly biodegrade .

Magnesium usage is not just limited to the automotive sector. It is also generating a lot of buzz in the sports sector.

It has taken high performance to a whole new level. Not only is magnesium light-weight, durable, and stronger than aluminum, but it also absorbs 16 times more shock and vibrations, making it the ideal metal that gives competitive sports that extra edge.

Many manufacturer's of motorcycle and mountain bike manufacturers have incorporated magnesium in their premium designs for years while new innovations used in the sports sectors are generating additional attention.

Skiers, snowboarders and even ice skaters now find some of their equipment made out of magnesium as it provides much better stability at higher speeds. It is also transforming the sport of golf, where drivers made with a magnesium crown are lighter with better weight distribution.

• Sahit Muja
• CE
• Albanian Minerals
• New York