# Electric and hybrid vehicles: Correlation Prices it moves with, and why Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_evs/correlation/ Electric car prices depend mostly on battery cost, which follows lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite plus factory scale, and on fierce competition led by Chinese makers. The proxy index covers all US light vehicles, so it cannot isolate electric models. Proxy **US PPI: automobiles, light trucks and utility vehicles** index · monthly, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026 There is no free public price for electric and hybrid vehicles itself, so this tab uses the closest public series as a stand-in. Read the numbers as an indication, not as the price of this exact item. #### What its price moves with Selected link ##### Electric and hybrid vehicles and Nickel-rich lithium-ion batteries Monthly changes 0.06 little or none correlation 12-month changes 0.04 little or none correlation Last 5 years -0.12 monthly changes Lead or lag none No clear lead or lag Price function, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026 Electric and hybrid vehicles ≈ 12.5 × (Nickel-rich lithium-ion batteries)^0.47 R² 0.91 On this fit, a 10% higher nickel-rich lithium-ion batteries price goes with a 4.5% higher electric and hybrid vehicles price over the long run. Units: index and index. Chart: Electric and hybrid vehicles and Nickel-rich lithium-ion batteries prices rebased to 100 at Jan 2006, log scale Both prices rebased to 100 at Jan 2006, on a log scale so equal percentage moves look the same size. Chart: Electric and hybrid vehicles price against Nickel-rich lithium-ion batteries price, monthly, log scales, with fitted line Each dot is one month; paler dots are older (2006), darker dots recent (2026); the ringed dot is the latest month. The dashed line is the fitted price function. Both axes are logarithmic. Commodity [Li Lithium](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lithium/)Battery material Every lithium-ion battery needs lithium in its cathode and electrolyte. The recent lithium price spike raised battery costs, and the later crash cut them, but lithium has no public price series here, so the link appears as text only. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Energy [NMC Nickel-rich lithium-ion batteries](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_li_nmc/)Battery pack 0.06 The battery is the costliest part of an electric car. The battery proxy hardly correlates with the vehicle index, at 0.06 monthly, because the vehicle proxy covers all cars and most battery cost falls show up as more range rather than lower prices. little or none co-movement month to month · 243 months Show charts Commodity [Ni Nickel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/nickel/)Cathode metal −0.15 Nickel-rich cathodes give longer range, making EVs a fast-growing use of nickel. Monthly moves correlate at -0.15 with the vehicle index, so nickel swings do not reach US car prices, which follow model cycles and the whole fleet. little or none co-movement month to month · 249 months Show charts Commodity [Cu Copper](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/copper/)Motors and wiring −0.17 An electric car uses much more copper than a petrol car, in motors, wiring and battery connections. Monthly moves correlate at -0.17 with the vehicle index, no pass-through, since metal costs are absorbed in annual supply contracts. little or none co-movement month to month · 249 months Show charts Commodity [REE Rare earths](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/)Motor magnets Most electric car motors use neodymium magnets. China dominates rare earth mining and magnet making, so export curbs can raise costs and push carmakers toward magnet-free motors. Rare earths have no price series here. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [CAM Battery cathode materials](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cathode_materials/)Battery material Cathode powders, such as nickel manganese cobalt oxides and lithium iron phosphate, are the largest cost inside a battery cell. Their prices follow lithium and nickel closely, but they have no public price series here. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. How to read these numbers **Correlation of monthly changes** (the number in the coloured pill) compares how much each price moved, month by month, since 2006 or the first month both series exist. It runs from −1 to +1: near +1 the two usually rise and fall in the same months, near 0 there is no link, and a negative number means they tend to move in opposite directions. Above 0.7 is strong, 0.4 to 0.7 moderate, 0.2 to 0.4 weak. **12-month changes** compare year-on-year moves, which shows whether two prices share the same cycles even when the month-to-month noise differs. **Price function** is a straight-line fit of the two prices on logarithmic scales: price ≈ k × (partner price)^β. β is how much this price moves, in per cent, for a 1% move in the partner over the whole period, and R² is the share of the variation the fit explains. Two prices that both drift up with inflation can fit well without any real link, so read it together with the monthly correlation. **Lead or lag** checks whether the monthly correlation is clearly higher when one price is shifted by 1 to 6 months. Correlation is not cause. The reasons on each card explain the economic link; the numbers show how strongly it has shown up in prices. Proxy series are US producer price indexes or related prices and can blur the real link. Data: World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), October 2026; US Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indexes, IMF primary commodity prices and US EIA prices via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, retrieved November 2026. Calculations by this site. ## Other sections - [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_evs/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_evs/overview/index.md) - [Science and limits](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_evs/science/index.md) - [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_evs/valuechain/index.md) - [Unit economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_evs/economics/index.md) - [Engineering methods](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_evs/methods/index.md) - [Equipment and suppliers](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_evs/equipment/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_evs/links/index.md)