Against the backdrop of soaring raw material prices due to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, EV = electric vehicle prices are rising one after another in the United States, and there are voices concerned about the impact on the globally accelerating EV shift.
In March, American EV maker Tesla raised the selling price of four models by about 5% to 10%.
The maximum price increase is $ 12,500, and the Japanese yen is about 1.55 million yen.
CEO Elon Musk said the reason for the price increase was "because of severe inflationary pressures on raw materials and logistics."
Rivian, an emerging maker, also announced that it will raise EV prices from 17% to 20%, saying that there is a possibility of further price increases depending on raw material price trends.
After the military invasion of Ukraine, the price of nickel, which is indispensable for EV batteries in Russia as a major producer, has risen sharply, which has become an issue for manufacturers.
Eric Hittinger, an associate professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, who is familiar with U.S. environmental policy, said, "EVs have fallen into a more difficult situation due to a military invasion by Russia where the production system is already tight due to the rapid increase in demand. "We are concerned about the impact on the globally accelerating EV shift."
On that basis, manufacturers expressed the idea that measures such as reviewing the raw materials for batteries are necessary.