Lithium-ion battery procurement strategies: Evidence from the automotive field

Electric and hybrid vehicle diffusion is nowadays promising but still limited, also due to the high costs of key components such as lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). A significant contribution to these relevant economic values is given by not optimized supply chain structures. Therefore, car manufacturers approaching electrification are considering different strategies to either purchase complete LIBs or producing them in-house. However, literature lacks quantitative studies assessing the logistics implications of LIB procurement policies in the automotive sector. The present work proposes a decision-making approach leveraging the main logistics and environmental issues involved in both internally producing and buying complete LIB packs. Such a framework is intended to increase the awareness about the complexity of the supply chain of batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles in order to further stimulate its investigation. Future research will extend the approach to include additional aspects as well as procurement configurations.