Prices of nickel and other key electric-vehicle materials have skyrocketed as the Russia–Ukraine war has sparked supply worries, and could throw a wrench into the plans of Tesla Inc. and its rivals to launch cheaper cars, according to media reports. What Happened Nickel prices soared 62 percent on Monday to an almost 15-year high of over $40,000 a ton on the London Metal Exchange amid a historic Russia supply squeeze, as per data from Bloomberg News. Nickel is a key element in making lithium-ion batteries that power EVs. “The nickel market is the tightest it has been since the commodity supercycle during the 2000s,” the report quoted a research note by Citigroup Inc. analysts. Why It Matters The Ukraine conflict has piled onto existing problems of global supply chain snarls and a chip crunch, and could mark the first year-over-year increase in the average price of lithium-ion battery cells, as per a Reuters analysis, which cited Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. …