global battery ''arms race'' between China, the United States, and Europe. The build-out of this supply chain is the blueprint for the 21st century automotive and energy storage industries, and
Soft, light, and silvery white, lithium is an energy dense, battery component superstar. It''s vital to the global energy transition, and it''s the focus of a high-stakes race for economic dominance in
In this film we''ll take you on a journey from Chile to England to Norway, to explore two massive questions hanging over this industry and everyone who invests in it. Can it increase production enough to meet surging global demand? And can it do so while minimising negative social and environmental impacts?
Lithium is the ''new oil'' of the clean energy era, crucial to the production of batteries for electric vehicles. The FT investigates this booming industry - and the controversies surrounding it...
With two principal branches of lithium-ion technology vying for supremacy, winners and losers will be decided in the coming years as companies race to supply the world, from carmakers including...
China has already won the race to mass produce lithium-ion batteries. Across the entire value chain for this technology—mining, material processing, and cell and pack manufacturing—it...
While the U.S. was once a pioneer in lithium production, it''s fallen off — with others, including China, taking the reins. On our third and final episode of our grid battery
Lithium is at the centre of the energy transition, crucial to the production of batteries for electric cars. In this film we''ll take you on a journey from Chile to England to Norway, to...
technologies could reach commercial markets in the coming decade—and the race to scale them up remains wide open. Next-generation batteries represent a fundamentally new architecture
The race to control nearly two-thirds of global lithium reserves, held by Argentina, Bolivia and Chile (which together make up the ''triangle''), is heating up. These
The lithium-ion-battery-to-EV supply chain has five fundamental sections. Each is intrinsically linked to the next, and the quality of the raw materials will directly affect the cost and quality of the EV being produced. The key battery raw materials of lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt, graphite, and manganese need to be mined from the ground.
The LME traces its history to 1571 and is one of the few exchanges in the world still to rely on the open outcry system of trading between individuals on its floor in the City of London. Probably over the next 10 years, most market commentators expect the lithium market, in size, to perhaps quadruple.
The booming lithium industry is at the centre of that struggle. Companies, investors, and governments in this space have some of the most exciting opportunities in the 21st century economy. But those opportunities come with intense scrutiny, heavy responsibility, and some intimidating challenges. This was the third film in a three-part series.
In particular, he says, China has an unhealthily large market share in the production of lithium-ion batteries and in the refining of lithium chemicals for them. China's been building critical minerals processing capacity over the last 15, 20 years while the rest of the world was sleeping.
Today, it has become the Chinese government's champion for the industry and is the world's biggest producer of lithium-ion batteries. In 2020 it had a capacity of 110 GWh, 22 per cent of the world's total of 500 GWh. CATL has five operational battery plants and six under construction, of which one is based in Erfurt, Germany.
To some extent, producing lithium-ion batteries can help the United States leapfrog to next-generation technologies by ensuring a solid base of firms and workers with experience making batteries. Plus, many of the critical minerals used in lithium-ion batteries—such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt—are also critical for solid-state batteries.
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