Is Lithium Used In Electric Cars. While electric cars are clearly beneficial for local air quality wherever theyre used ethical and environmental concerns have been raised over the mining of materials such as lithium and cobalt that are used to make their batteries. However the cells present increased capacities of up to 40 as compared to others and their lighter design is perfect for electric cars.
Unfortunately most of the worlds battery grade lithium is imported. Most automakers use lithium-ion batteries although some hybrids like the Toyota Prius have a nickel-metal hydride battery instead. Klein the partner at RK Equity who studies lithium said that while all electric vehicles and most energy storage technologies need lithium its relatively abundant so no one lithium project is.
Theyre a relatively new technology that replaced the dated lead-acid batteries of yesteryear.
An important growth driver is its use in the batteries of electric vehicles. The availability of lithium is a well-known concern with electric vehicle batteries but much less reported is the concentration of the rare earth minerals vital to making electric motors for EVs. The current global lithium shortage is causing prices to skyrocket. Half of the top 10 LIB cell makers were in.
