Lithium Race: Volvo Cars Strong Commitment To Electrification - From 2019 All Volvo Cars Will Be With Electric Powertrains.

This is the great news and I do hope that they know what they are talking about at Volvo. Either they have totally missed Tesla or they are thinking that Tesla Motors is not a premium car maker. But jokes aside, this is another major development in our electric space from another now Chinese-owned automaker. 

Volvo is committing to all cars from 2019 with electric powertrains. They will be either fully electric or hybrids. Lithium battery prices are going down so fast that hybrid technology will become obsolete in the next few years. It can happen exactly when Volvo is going to make at least 5 pure electric model and 1 million in sales by 2025. 

Electric cars are coming much faster than a lot of people are anticipating it. Lithium is at the very heart of this Energy rEVolution. International Lithium is plugged into the very dynamic EVs and Energy Storage markets in China with its holdings in JV projects with Ganfeng Lithium, a giant from China.

The Switch And Lithium Race: Electric Boom - Dozens EV Models Available Through 2020.

Miles of electric range.

Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance

This is when one picture is better than thousand words. Electric Cars are coming. The Switch is here. Enjoy. And if you are missing words, they are below with links for your further research to find out for yourself why all cars will be electric and much faster than a lot of people anticipate it.

Lithium is the magic metal at the very heart of this Energy rEVolution and International Lithium is Lithium Strategic Investments and Royalty Company which is plugged-in the most dynamic EV and Energy Storage markets in China with partners like a giant from China Ganfeng Lithium. Read more.

Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Lithium Race And The Coming Tide Of Electric Cars: Tesla Has Now 8 Vehicle Programs In The Works.

The next generation of Tesla Roadster.

Electrek reports about 8 electric vehicles in the works at Tesla and now you can better understand what I call the coming tide of Electric Cars. China is investing billions of dollars in The New Energy Plan creating its leapfrog into the post carbon economy by building the manufacturing base for the 21st century based on renewable energy and electric cars. Elon Musk has made electric cars unstoppable in the West almost alone - just compare the state level support in China with their military discipline to secure the full supply chain for Energy rEVolution and constant cry from auto lobbyists and Big Oil in the West.

Tesla is still way ahead of any closest competitors in the EV space. Elon Musk made it in a silicon valley style: get big fast and go online. His very bold move with Gigafactory is slashing lithium battery costs down and Chinese companies are mimicking it with their Lithium Megafactories. And Tesla's ability to collect data online from billions of miles driven by its electric cars and update them as our mobile phones has made a dramatic reduction in time and cost of EV R&D possible. That is why China is already flexing its financial muscles to get Tesla inland with "Chinese Facebook" Tencent taking 5% stake in the company recently. So do we still have a chance not to hold that bag after Energy rEVolution will claim its victims after all?

International Lithium And Ganfeng Mariana Lithium JV Exploration Target And Indicated Resource Of 1.25 M T of LCE.

Lithium Race: China Private Equity Player GSR Eyes Stake In $9 Billion Chilean Lithium Miner SQM.

CNBC reports that China continues to accumulate lithium assets. Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi were both dancing around SQM stake before, now Ganfeng Lithium has closed its deal with Lithium Americas where they have a JV with SQM in Argentina. Security of lithium supply is the most important now for all lithium chemicals producers. We have only a few solid new lithium projects coming online and this kind of M&A will bring the attention to the lithium sector and provide the reassessment of the valuations for the projects with the strong backers. International Lithium is plugged into the very dynamic EVs and Energy Storage markets in China with its holdings in JV projects with Ganfeng Lithium, a giant from China. Finally, some buying volume is coming back into the market of lithium junior miners, investors are getting the message. 

Tesla Officials Visit Argentina’s Governor Of Salta For Solar And Storage Projects And Sourcing Lithium.

ElectTrek reports that "salt on the salad'": this is how Elon Musk has described lithium before - must be very important for Tesla's digestive system after all. I am writing here extensively about the coming control of the Lithium supply by Chinese companies who are very aggressively buying all the best lithium projects worldwide. It is very difficult to pretend anymore that any lithium will be coming from any signed by Tesla agreements with some junior miners in the nearest future. Lithium cathode is still produced by Panasonic for Tesla Gigafactory. Read more.

Another part of this story is the rising price of lithium in China again. Last year we have seen only 14% rise in lithium supply and prices have increased by 74%. In December, Benchmark Minerals has reported that LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) was priced below $15k/T and Lithium Hydroxide (the particular lithium based chemical which is used in Tesla batteries) was around $18k/T. Last week I have received reports that in Shanghai LCE was priced at $18k/T and Lithium Hydroxide was at $22k/T. Today there are reports that LCE is already pushing $19k/T. It is all happening just before 4 major Lithium batteries Megafactories will be coming online in China this year and Tesla will move into the mass market stage with the production launch of Tesla Model 3 in July.

As you know, I have been preaching for years that security of lithium supply will be the most important factor determining the competitive advantage among different producers of critical raw materials for the Energy rEVolution. This Lithium Race will have the very far-reaching geopolitical implications. Now it looks like that Tesla is realizing that there is no secure supply of lithium for its massive expansion of operations from the underneath of Gigafactory floor in Nevada. Even if Panasonic is producing cathode for lithium cells which are made at Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada the supply chain is going all over the globe and back to China.

The real test to the market and supply chains for Energy rEVolution will come with the coming tide of Electric Cars and the following tsunami of Energy Storage. Bloomberg has recently reported that there will be more than 120 models of electric cars by 2020 and you should not be surprised as we have discussed here before that there are more than 70 models of electric cars on sale in China already. The next few years will determine who will have the keys to the new Energy rEVolution and control the supply chains. Hungry Dragons are flying high already and mostly in China, the question remains who and how will feed them without fear of being burnt in the process. 

CNBC:

China private equity player GSR eyes stake in $9 billion Chilean lithium miner SQM

• China private-equity player GSR Capital is aiming to buy as much as 20 percent in SQM, one of the world's biggest lithium producers, sources said.
• GSR, an investor in clean technology and electric cars, met the Chilean government in April to discuss the potential purchase and was now moving towards a deal, the sources said.

"Chinese private equity firm GSR Capital is looking to buy a substantial holding in Chile's Sociedad Quimica Y Minera (SQM), one of the world's biggest lithium producers, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

GSR could buy a stake of around 20 percent - worth just under $1.9 billion at current market values, one of the sources said, but added there was no firm agreement.

SQM is one of just a handful of established lithium miners globally and a Chinese investment would go hand in glove with an electric car boom in the world's biggest auto market.

Beijing is aggressively promoting the vehicles to combat air pollution and as a means for the domestic car industry to compete with foreign rivals that have decades more experience in internal combustion engines.

The sources said GSR, which has invested in clean technology and electric cars, met the Chilean government in April to discuss the potential purchase and was now moving towards a deal.

A Chilean government transparency web site reported two GSR representatives met Eduardo Bitran, the head of the government development agency Corfo that manages the nation's lithium leases, on April 24.

An SQM representative declined to comment. GSR did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The sources did not specify who would sell the shares to GSR, but Julio Ponce, former chairman and one-time son-in-law of Chilean ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet, has previously tried to sell part of his interest in SQM. That process ended in late 2016 after offers fell short.

Suitors then included Ningbo Shanshan, a Chinese manufacturer of lithium battery materials. Canada's Potash Corp was also seen as a potential buyer.

According to a presentation on SQM's website, Ponce's holding firm Pampa Calichera and Japanese trading and chemicals firm Kowa, who have a joint voting pact, together owned a 32 percent stake in SQM as of the end of March 2017. Potash also owns 32 percent.

Potash declined to comment. Reuters was not able to reach Ponce for comment, but a source with knowledge of Pampa Calichera said he was not aware of the potential stake purchase. Kowa did not have immediate comment.

SQM, which has access to vast mineral reserves in the so-called 'lithium triangle' in Chile and Argentina, said in May it was planning to expand production as lithium demand continues to rocket on the back of its increased use in electric vehicles and mobile phones.

GSR, currently managing a $5 billion M&A fund, mainly targets foreign industrial and emerging technology companies, including electric car batteries and pharmaceuticals firms. It is in talks to buy control of a Nissan Motor rechargeable battery unit for about $1 billion, media have reported

GSR was also involved in a Chinese consortium to take over Italian football club AC Milan last year, but dropped out before the deal was signed, sources said at the time.

It grabbed headlines in 2015 when it teamed up with other investors to buy Philips's lighting component unit for $2.8 billion, a deal later blocked by a U.S. foreign investment panel on security grounds."

Lithium Race: First Production Tesla Model 3 Expected Friday - 20,000 Per Month By December.

It is happening, they are coming! Elon Musk has announced this weekend that Model 3 has passed all regulatory requirements and the first production Tesla Model 3 is expected this Friday. Production will be ramping up to 20,000 per month by December. We are talking here about 240,000 Tesla Model 3 per year at this rate already to be achieved in 2017! We are entering the mass market stage for electric cars.  

Lithium is at the very heart of this Energy rEVolution. International Lithium is plugged into the very dynamic EVs and Energy Storage markets in China with its holdings in JV projects with Ganfeng Lithium, a giant from China.

International Energy Agency: In Order To Limit Temperature Increase Below 2º C The Number Of Electric Cars Needs To Reach 600 Million By 2040.

"The cost of lithium batteries is going down very fast and I believe that fully electric cars will rule the world very soon. Tesla Model 3 with 65 kWh lithium battery provides over 200 miles of range and will become the standard in the industry with its mass volume production from this July. There is around 60 kg of LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) in one Tesla Model 3 battery. We will need 36 Million Tonnes of LCE to be produced by 2040 to put this IEA plan into life.
To put it into perspective, the total lithium production last year was around 200,000 T of LCE. Now you can better understand why there is the real cut throat competition for the security of lithium supply which is still hidden from the most of the people by the clouds of toxic cancer hazard fumes emitted by all DIEsel cars on our roads. ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) are on the way out, all cars will be electric very soon and we are facing the total disconnect between the coming demand for lithium and the available supply. Read more."

Back Into The Future - Lithium Will Power Us For The Next 50 Years And Then Robots.

The Verge:

First production Tesla Model 3 expected Friday, Elon Musk says

Lithium Race: The Switch Is Happening Now - Electric Cars Arriving Faster Than Anticipated.

The Switch is happening now. The Tide of Electric Cars is coming onto our streets. I used to call it "The iPod Moment", now we have a better picture to show us what is coming. Smartphones were more expensive than normal phones, but they took over the market like a storm. The demand was there: customers who were willing tp pay for the access to everything on the go and under their fingertips. The same will happen with electric cars: demand is there and millions will be ready to pay for "Mobility Pay As You Go". When will Elon Musk introduce EVs with "Pay As You Go" scheme to finish ICE cars with just one new business model move? And this is what happens in our industry feeding the Hungry Dragons which are flying high over China mostly. Lithium Race is for real now. Read more.

International Lithium And Ganfeng Mariana Lithium JV Exploration Target And Indicated Resource Of 1.25 M T of LCE.

Lithium Race: Tesla Model 3 Is The Best Of 12 Cheapest Electric Cars On Sale In 2017.

Tesla Model 3 will change everything for electric cars. The Switch will be happening when millions of people will be buying electric cars. Now we are very close to this stage. The best electric cars are becoming more and more affordable for the masses. Watch the video.

Electric rEVolution: Lithium Race Goes Ludicrous Mode With GM Bolt And Tesla Model 3 Production Starting in July!

Kirill Klip, Chairman, President and CEO, International Lithium Corp.

The real electric cars are finally coming on our streets. Stage one of The Tide is coming with two Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the West to start mass-market adoption phase: GM Bolt and Tesla Model 3. Both electric cars are priced below $40,000 and give you more than 200 miles range. The Switch will happen when millions of people will be buying electric cars instead of ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) ones. The demand for Mobility is already here, all we have to do is to make EVs better and cheaper than cancer hazard polluting ICE ones. Then millions of customers will start The Switch literally. Read more.

Tesla Model 3 production candidate.

The Switch And Lithium Race: Electric Boom - Dozens EV Models Available Through 2020.

Miles of electric range.

Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance

This is when one picture is better than thousand words. Electric Cars are coming. The Switch is here. Enjoy. And if you are missing words, they are below with links for your further research to find out for yourself why all cars will be electric and much faster than a lot of people anticipate it.

Lithium is the magic metal at the very heart of this Energy rEVolution and International Lithium is Lithium Strategic Investments and Royalty Company which is plugged-in the most dynamic EV and Energy Storage markets in China with partners like a giant from China Ganfeng Lithium. Read more.

Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance

The Tide Is Coming: The Economist: Electric Cars Are Set To Arrive Far More Speedily Than Anticipated.

ReThinkX: Lithium Race And Energy rEVolution. Tony Seba: Clean Disruption - Energy & Transportation

A lot of things Tony Seba has been talking about for years are happening now very fast. Disruption is all around us and Energy rEVolution will bring the most significant one which will affect billions of people. We are leaving the ICE Age with centrally controlled Energy Sources based on Oil and other Fossil Fuels. We are entering the new age of distributed energy generation based on Solar and Wind, when Solar, particularly, makes it possible to become truly energy independent. Energy Storage makes it possible. We are talking here not about 3% - 5% - 20% of cars being electric. We are talking here about all cars being electric and very fast. Why and How? Tony Seba is one of the best to explain. What will be the far-reaching implications? This blog is about it. Enjoy.

Back Into The Future - Lithium Will Power Us For The Next 50 Years And Then Robots.

International Energy Agency: In Order To Limit Temperature Increase Below 2º C The Number Of Electric Cars Needs To Reach 600 Million By 2040.

Kirill Klip, Executive Chairman of International Lithium Corp.

International Energy Agency has presented "Global EV Outlook 2017". Numerous statistics are painting the picture of exponential growth in sales of electric cars. The number of electric cars on the roads rose to 2 million in 2016. It took us all human history to get to 1 million of electric cars in 2015 and just over 1 year to double this amount and exceed 2 million EVs by now. 

In 2016 40% of all electric cars were sold in China. China sells more electric cars than the US and Europe. And China is also the global leader in the electrification of other forms of transport. There are more than 70 models of electric cars on sale in China now. There are 2 million electric bikes, 4 million small low-speed EVs and 350,000 electric buses in China as well. BYD backed by Warren Buffet is not only the largest electric buses maker but has become the largest electric vehicles manufacturer in the world. And now Tesla is coming to China as well ...

In Norway nearly a third of all cars sold in 2016 were electric. We are at the tipping point for the mass market in electric cars. 95% of EV sales were concentrated in just 10 countries. Electric Cars still represent only 0.2% of all cars in the world. Worldwide sales of electric cars have reached 1.1% of total auto sales in 2016. In order to limit temperature increase below 2º C the number of electric cars needs to reach 600 million by 2040.

The cost of lithium batteries is going down very fast and I believe that fully electric cars will rule the world very soon. Tesla Model 3 with 65 kWh lithium battery provides over 200 miles of range and will become the standard in the industry with its mass volume production from this July. There is around 60 kg of LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) in one Tesla Model 3 battery. We will need 36 Million Tonnes of LCE to be produced by 2040 to put this IEA plan into life.

To put it into perspective, the total lithium production last year was around 200,000 T of LCE. Now you can better understand why there is the real cut throat competition for the security of lithium supply which is still hidden from the most of the people by the clouds of toxic cancer hazard fumes emitted by all DIEsel cars on our roads. ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) are on the way out, all cars will be electric very soon and we are facing the total disconnect between the coming demand for lithium and the available supply.

Lithium supply chains will be tested this year by Tesla Gigafactory starting lithium batteries mass production for Model 3 and by a few lithium batteries Megafactories which are coming online in China. Lithium giants from China like Ganfeng Lithium are building vertically integrated businesses to supply critical material to this Energy rEVolution. Ganfeng Lithium has finally closed its deal with Lithium Americas and now Argentina will become the real Powerhouse of Energy rEVolution. Lithium is the magic metal at the very heart of this Energy rEVolution and International Lithium is a Lithium Strategic Investments and Royalty Company which is plugged-in to the most dynamic EV and Energy Storage markets in China, with partners like Ganfeng Lithium, a giant from China.

The Switch And Lithium Race: Transport Sector Primed For The Growth Of Electric Vehicles.

International Energy Agency: In Order To Limit Temperature Increase Below 2º C The Number Of Electric Cars Needs To Reach 600 Million By 2040.

Transport Sector Primed for the Growth of Electric Vehicles

June 27, 2017 by Ken Silverstein

"When it comes to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, the electricity sector gets much of the attention, considering that it is responsible for 29% of those releases. But the transportation sector makes up 26% of them. If that is going to change, the electric car will have to make significant inroads. Is that possible?

As for those stats, that’s the US Environmental Protection Agency speaking, which also says that industry is responsible for 21% of greenhouse gas emissions while commercial and residential users comprise 12%. Meantime, the agricultural sector makes up 9%. The electricity sector is having success because of the switch from coal-to-gas. And industry is committed to such reductions because that is what their customers want, forcing them to track their releases and find new ways to cut them.

One method that companies could use to have an impact is to buy into the electric car. While the automotive sector has been a slow mover, things could change if industry gets involved.

In the International Energy Agency’s ‘Global EV Outlook 2017,’ it shows a lot of acceleration in the last year. Kirill Klip, executive chairman of International Lithium Corp. points out in a blog that there were 2 million electric cars on the road in 2016. “It took us all human history to get to 1 million of electric cars in 2015 and just over 1 year to double this amount and exceed 2 million EVs by now,” he writes. 

“Electric Cars still represent only 0.2% of all cars in the world,” Klip added. “Worldwide sales of electric cars have reached 1.1% of total auto sales in 2016. In order to limit temperature increase below 2º C the number of electric cars needs to reach 600 million by 2040.”

China has been the biggest market, he adds, at 40% of all sales. It also has 2 million electric bikes. Norway, meantime, was a third of the EV market in 2016.

But the global EV market is at a tipping point, he says. The impetus? The Tesla Model 3, which is due out this summer and which has a 200 mile range. It is to be priced in the mid $30,000 range. And it will rely on the lithium battery that Tesla will mass produce at its giga-factor.

“Very slowly Lithium Industry is starting to get some attention from the investment crowd, but the real awakening is still ahead of us,” says Klip. “This summer will be very hot for the lithium supply chain, and the first real test is coming. Tesla Gigafactory will start mass production of Tesla Model 3 batteries in July and 4 Lithium Mega-factories are coming online in China.” 

But what type of environmental impact will EVs have? Wood Mackenzie is saying that the Tesla Model 3 will help cut gasoline consumption by 300,000 barrels per day by 2035.

By 2035, Wood Mackenzie estimates that electric vehicles will be 12 percent of all new car sales, or 16 million vehicles, says an earlier report in Environmental Leader. Such a base case scenario, it adds, would mean that the country consumes 5% less oil than today, or 350,000 barrels per day. Electric vehicle sales now make up less than 1 percent of the market.

“EVs would likely become a disruptive force in the oil industry before they do for the power industry, especially considering that much of the charging infrastructure is currently being built in areas affected by renewable over-generation, where additional demand would be welcomed,” said Prajit Ghosh, research director at Wood Mackenzie, as reported by Greentech Media.

To be sure, obstacles abound. Fitch Ratings calculates that at a 32.5% compound annual growth rate, it would be nearly 20 years before electric vehicles comprised 25% of the auto market. So, it does expect oil to be around for a while. 

“The transition to EVs will be slow due to the need for infrastructure investment and the fact that new vehicles can have a 20-year lifespan,” the ratings service says.

Tesla, though, is a powerful catalyst driving electric cars. In fact, just about every car maker in the world is developing either an all-electric car or a hybrid vehicle that runs on both electricity and petroleum. As they continue to improve, so do the efficiencies — or the ability to input a unit of energy and to realize more output. In fact, traditional cars running on an internal combustion engine have a 30% efficiency rate. The rest is lost to heat, sound and energy. 

But vehicles that run on electricity have an 80%  efficiency rate, or they convert 80%  of those Btus to energy, says Thor Hinckley, an electric vehicle and renewable energy expert with CLEAResult, a consulting specializing in energy efficiency. The efficiencies are greater because of the superiority of the electric motor over that of the internal combustion engine — not because one unit of energy is better than another.   

“With an efficiency difference that great, anything will be cleaner than burning gasoline,” says Hinckley."

Back Into The Future - Lithium Will Power Us For The Next 50 Years And Then Robots.

International Energy Agency: In Order To Limit Temperature Increase Below 2º C The Number Of Electric Cars Needs To Reach 600 Million By 2040.