July 20, 2023 at 1:52 AM EDT

After complaining last year about surging prices for lithium, a metal used in electric vehicle batteries, Elon Musk says he’s now seeing “deflationary pressures” in commodities.

The Tesla Inc. chief executive made the remarks in response to questions on the EV maker’s earnings call. “Lithium prices went absolutely insane there for a while,” he said. Rising commodities prices had made it difficult to cut costs last year, but Musk said he was now “seeing what seems to be deflationary pressures.”