Volkswagen And Mercedes-Benz Sign Agreement For Canadian Battery Minerals

The Canadian quest to become a top-tier battery manufacturer just got more serious.

Announced a mere week after the United States Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz met with signed an important agreement. The agreement allows Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz to have access to Canadian raw materials for battery manufacturing. The meeting was attended by both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

According to Global News Canada, the agreement includes metals and minerals like Cobalt, nickel, graphite, and lithium, but the complete nuances of which minerals will be included haven’t been finalized yet.

This is very important, not only for Canada but the United States as well. The Inflation Reduction Act removes all US tax credit incentives for EVs not built in North America. It also changes the eligibility for vehicles that do qualify. For 2023 and onward, Batteries must be made in North America and use a certain percentage of materials from free trade countries to qualify for tax incentives. So, Canadian minerals would be a surefire fit for EVs sold in the US.

This latest agreement is yet another automaker investing in the Canadian EV supply chain line. Stellantis, GM, LG, and more all have plans to invest billions of dollars into manufacturing batteries in Canada. Yet, this operation with Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz appears to be the first operation in Canada dedicated to mineral rights. The agreement should see the creation of hundreds of Canadian jobs, and in turn, the rest of North America as the region gets on with making more EV batteries.

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