When it comes to Lithium and the its promise of light, powerful and energetically dense batteries for electric vehicle, EV, the emotion runs high. There are people for and people against. But what is really going on in the lithium field?
The gist is lithium is a metal that needs to be refined and used with cobalt in order to create an energy storage device, battery. However, cobalt is expensive and the first generations of lithium-ion batteries had a nasty tendency to overheat and in worse case scenario, burn up. Newer version use alternatives to cobalt, such a manganese.
Figure Can’t Lie, But Liars Can Figure. A little bold but beware of figures and experts. Figure can be manipulated to say almost anything. This AutoBlogGreen figure however, shows the current level of lithium metal resources and that of its demand. But it does not say anything about refining the metal to make batteries.
In this case, and according to AutoBlogGreen, Mitsubishi allowed their consultants to release some of their findings of the global market for lithium through to 2020.
Final thoughts, even though it clearly shows the state of lithium’s natural resource, it so far outweighs demand for the new car industry. However, it says nothing about how lithium needs to be refined from its diluted state and used with other expensive products to be used in batteries. The positive note is that it points to more resources than demand. Now we just need more breakthroughs on finding alternatives to cobalt and cheaply manufacturing it.