Elon Musk has said on Twitter Tesla intends to produce batteries without any cobalt in the future. And lithium is extremely plentiful as you mention. The materials supply is a non-issue.
Yes indeed - I just found a different, primary source. Some people (unfairly, I feel) write off anything he says.
I saw a cool graph showing how much cell price would change if different material inputs price changed. Essentially, cobalt or lithium could double in price, and the cost of a battery pack for a car would only increase 5-10%. Can't find the exact graph, but this article has quite a lot of detailed info on battery price constituents. http://thedeepdive.ca/lithium-ion-battery-cells-cathodes-and...
edit: oo it actually has forecasts for cobalt production and demand showing demand for cobalt higher than supply by 2025. And forecasts that material costs are not likely to drop. And that manufacturers will work other angles of the price equation to get prices lower.
