According to its Impact report for 2021, Tesla can recover raw materials from batteries with ~92% efficiency: for every 1,000 kWh worth of end-of-life batteries, Tesla recovers 921 kWh worth of raw metals to produce new batteries. The importance of recycling already is clear when cells don’t meet quality assurance during the manufacturing process. Tesla believes that “the costs associated with large-scale battery material recovery and recycling will be far lower than purchasing additional raw materials for cell manufacturing,” contributing significantly to continued battery cost declines and amplifying the importance of recycling as more electric vehicles reach end-of-life.

Eoin Treacy's view

Here is a link to Tesla’s 2021 Impact report. It clearly states Tesla does practically no recycling at present, because its batteries have not been in the field long enough to provide adequate supply.

The long-term plan is to reuse materials in much the same way that steel companies do for scrap. That will help to create a circular economy and eventually reduce the need for freshly mined materials. Quite whether that will reduce the price of batteries is very much an open question. The rising price of commodities has contributed to significant inflation in EV prices over the last year and investors will be keen to see companies sustain margins.

Meanwhile, the high price of lithium is encouraging substitution outside of the passenger vehicle sector. This article discusses some of the emerging sodium-ion chemistries. 

Copper has evolving Type-2 top formation characteristics and has broken the sequence of higher reaction lows. A clear upward dynamic will be required to check momentum.

Brent Crude failed to break the short-term sequence of lower rally highs again today and pulled back sharply. That was fueled by news Saudi Arabia cut the price it is charging China over the weekend.