Demand for EV Battery Materials is Surging Putting Renewed Focus on Where These Strategic Resources Come From and China’s Role in Processing Them

With new electric-powered sports cars like Ford’s Mach-E and Audi’s e-tron Quattro selling well, demand is surging for the strategic minerals and metals that are used to make the batteries in those vehicles.

Sales of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite jumped 170% in February compared to the same time last year. Cobalt sales, in particular, continued to rise steadily even as the world’s number two EV maker, BYD from China, and Volkswagen both announced that they will use cobalt-free lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries in their new EV line-up.

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by Eric Olander

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