Lithium — a mineral that is key for electric car batteries — continues to rise in price, jeopardizing the ongoing transition to renewable energy outlined by Western governments.
The cost of lithium has skyrocketed more than 250% over the last 12 months, hitting its highest level ever, according to an industry index from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. While the cost of manufacturing a lithium-ion battery for an electric vehicle (EV) has fallen sharply over the last decade, the decline has slowed in recent months due to rising lithium costs.
The average cost of an EV battery pack fell to $157 per kilowatt hour, a measure of energy capacity, in 2021, the Department of Energy said in October. That means a typical EV battery is between $6,000 and $7,000, a BloombergNEF analysis showed.
Battery costs would need to come down to $100 per kilowatt hour for overall EV prices to compete with traditional internal combustion engine cars, according to Bloomberg. The price of lithium will play a large role in achieving that goal.
“It’s like being in a hot real-estate market,” Lithium Americas CEO Jon Evans told The Wall Street Journal. “There’s a mad scramble.”
The electrical infrastructure is not ready for the charging capacity requirements to start with.
The only way I would own one of these is if they were cheaper than fossil-fueled vehicles – as they provide less utility. Even with that, I would want solar panels on the house roof and batteries to store energy in the house – then I could charge the vehicle from the sun.
Having said all of that, the fallacy of using solar panels is yuuuge as they consume more energy to manufacture….
Who didn’t see this coming? I invested in domestic and global Lithium extraction ten years ago and it has done quite well. I don’t care what they do with it or where it ends up just like no one cared about coal or oil. You have to play to Win.
One word….who has this mineral? Afghanistan
Thank Hunter Biden and Joe Biden for selling the mine to the CHINESE to give them control of this mineral.
Why are the Biden’s businesses being investigated like they are Trump’s. The Bidens are selling and dealing with our enemies to destroy the US economy and CONSTITUTION.
They are the TRAITORS of our COUNTRY.