Compared with the soaring price of nickel (Nickel) under the earlier Russian-Ukrainian war, the price increase of another metal lithium (Lithium) in recent months may have more impact on the electric vehicle industry.
Faced with this rising cost of battery raw materials, electric car leader Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company may need to dig its own to cut costs.
Why is there such a "shortage" of lithium?
How can the new technology "Direct Lithium Extraction" (DLE), which many miners and car manufacturers look forward to, are expected to meet future lithium demand?
On the 9th of this month, Musk posted on the social platform Twitter: "The price of lithium has reached a crazy level! Unless this cost can be reduced, Tesla may really have to go directly into the large-scale mining and refining industry." In mid-March In a Weibo post, Li Xiang, chief executive of China's new energy vehicle Lixiang Auto, also said that "the increase in battery costs in the second quarter was outrageous" this year.
Lithium is an indispensable raw material for electric vehicle batteries. The recent rise in lithium prices has caused battery manufacturers and car manufacturers to increase prices, and the future demand for lithium will only increase.
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Lithium prices have risen about 550% over the past year, according to consulting firm McKinsey, to over $65,000 per metric ton of lithium carbonate and $75,000 per metric ton of lithium hydroxide, respectively, by early last month.
It can also be seen from the domestic metal industry information platform Asian Metal that although the price of lithium carbonate has dropped slightly recently, the price of lithium carbonate in China is still hovering around RMB 500,000.
"Breaking neon" under the Russia-Ukraine war Chip industry: Can the Russian-Ukrainian war push up nickel prices from China to promote the transformation and development of electric vehicle batteries?
Musk pointed out that, in fact, lithium "is not lacking in this element itself, it is almost everywhere on the earth, but the speed of extraction and refining is very slow."
Because one of the strategies to deal with the soaring price of lithium raw materials is to start with non-traditional sources, such as geothermal brine and oil field brine.
Some miners are planning to use a new method of mining called direct lithium extraction or direct lithium extraction (DLE).
The technology has been noticed by governments, mining companies and other automakers.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm even more praised that this technology will "change the industry ecology and have great opportunities"...
For details, please read the 313th issue of "Hong Kong 01" Electronic Weekly (April 19, 2022) "
Lithium price surge threatens new technology for electric vehicles, DLE, is the way out?
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