Want new factory to make car chips? That'll be $4 billion, please

No one really wants to make the chips automakers need.

In theory, chip manufacturers could build semiconductor fabrication facilities, or fabs, to meet the demand and help plug the hole. But the costs for the new foundries are prohibitive.

It takes approximately $4 billion to set up a fab for the types of chips carmakers need. After two years of construction, the initial goal would be to pump out as many wafers as possible to bring down the per-unit cost. As Peter Hanbury of Bain & Company said in an interview, the costs for this variety start at around $4,000 per wafer.