Daily Shorts: China's Farizon raises $600 million, Musk says Tesla could deploy robots next year and more

Farizon, an electric and hybrid truck manufacturer owned by China's Geely, announced it had raised $600 million from investors led by Boyu Capital and Yuexiu Industrial Fund. The company said it will use the money for R&D and expansion to overseas markets. It plans to start selling a light electric cargo van in Europe from next year and aims to become among the top three electric cargo van suppliers on the continent. Among its competitors will be Rivian. Farizon estimates global sales to touch 150,000 vehicles this year, up four-fold over last year.

Tesla is in early talks with a major automaker to license its full self-driving technology, CEO Elon Musk said in an earnings call, a day after US regulators launched a special investigation into a fatal crash involving the company's vehicle. Musk indicated he could cut prices further, deepening an ongoing price war. He was also optimistic about Tesla's robots. Only about 10 have been built till date, but the CEO said they could start helping out on Tesla's shop floors as soon as next year.

US government agencies plan to buy 9,500 electric vehicles in the 12 months ended September 30 this year, almost three times the number acquired the year prior. Data from the US Government Accountability Office shows that a total of 26 agencies — accounting for 99 percent of the federal fleet (excluding postal vehicles) — have sought over $470 million for EV purchases and almost $300 million for installation of charging infrastructure and making other changes necessary for operations. The US government has banned purchase of conventional vehicles from 2035.

The world could run into a shortage of metals critical to energy transition unless investment in increased, the Energy Transitions Commission warned. Investments into metals such as lithium, copper, nickel, graphite and cobalt have averaged $45 billion a year, against a requirement of $70 billion a year until 2030, the commission said. ETC estimates the global energy transition will require 6.5 billion tonnes of materials over 2022-50, with steel, copper and aluminum accounting for 95 percent of the total. Earlier, the IEA said the world had adequate mineral resources provided existing investments materialized.