(Yicai Global) March 21 -- Xpeng Motor, WM Motor Technology, Leapmotor Technology, and about 20 other Chinese carmakers have announced price hikes on nearly 50 electric vehicle models so far this year because of surging raw material costs.

Xpeng will increase the prices of its EVs by between CNY10,100 and CNY20,000 (USD1,590 and USD3,145), it said on March 18, while WM Motor said the next day that it was hiking its EV prices by CNY7,000 (USD1,100) to CNY26,000 from March 28.

BYD, Hozon Auto, and US-based Tesla have already raised their prices by between CNY3,000 and CNY30,000. Among major Chinese EV makers only Nio, Li Auto, and Voyah have not increased them so far.

Costlier raw materials leave EV makers with no choice but to pass on some of the higher cost to consumers to guarantee profit, Zhang Junyi, managing partner at management consultants Oliver Wyman, told Yicai Global. It will take time for raw materials to fall back to their original prices, he added.

At about CNY500,000 (USD78,580) a ton, lithium costs 10 times more what it did early last year, while cobalt doubled to CNY566,700 a ton on March 15 from CNY300,000 at the start of 2021.

Surging supply chain costs have also forced some automakers to suspend production. Ora, a new energy vehicle brand under Great Wall Motors, said late last month that it will stop accepting orders for its White Cat and Black Cat models, as it could lose over CNY10,000 for each Black Cat sold because of the high raw material prices.

The two models sell at no less than CNY70,000 and CNY120,000 (USD18,860), respectively. Ora sold almost 13,230 in January, but only 6,261 in February.

Editor: Futura Costaglione