Bloomberg: The Electric Car Revolution Is Accelerating - Production Of Lithium Will Increase More Than 100-fold.

And now Bloomberg is joining our discussion about critical secure lithium supply to feed this Energy rEVolution and the coming tide of electric cars. The total disconnect between the exponential growth of sales of electric cars and available secure lithium supply is making its way into the mainstream investment media.

For us here, it will not be a secret that BNEF is totally right to point out the main driving force of this coming Electric rEVolution - cheap lithium batteries change everything. The surprise is coming with the news from Audi - they are claiming to be able to purchase lithium batteries for the upcoming electric cars at $114 per KWh from China already! And I will not be surprised by it at all. With all that build up in lithium batteries capacity, the new coming players will bid for business now betting on mass volume production to bring the cost of lithium batteries fast down. We are entering the Solar Panels stage of total industry cost structure disruption for Lithium Batteries with China investing billions to corner this market as well.

Security of lithium supply is at the very base of this sate-level investment game by China. In the end, you cannot participate in billions of dollars in available government funding if you cannot secure the supply of lithium raw materials to feed all this pyramid. Disruption of $12 Trillion dollars industries ($4 Trillion Transportation and $8 Trillion Energy and Utilities) is based on the $2 Billion dollars market by sales of lithium raw materials. And the price of that critical commodity is just under 2% of total cost of a lithium battery. We will have the very fast increase in lithium prices and the wave of M&A in our very small sector will be one of the most impressive ones, when billions will be chasing all available secure lithium supply trying to buy the time they have lost already.

"The forecast is BNEF’s most bullish to date and is more aggressive than projections made by the International Energy Agency. Surging investment in lithium-ion batteries, higher manufacturing capacity at companies including Tesla Inc. and Nissan Motor Co., as well as emerging consumer demand from China to Europe support BNEF’s projections, which also include: ·       In just eight years, electric cars will be as cheap as gasoline vehicles, pushing the global fleet to 530 million vehicles by 2040

 ·       Electricity consumption from EVs will grow to 1,800 terawatt-hours in 2040, or 5 percent of global power demand, from 6 terawatt-hours in 2016

 ·       There's around 90 gigawatt hours of EV lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity online now, and this is set to rise to 270 gigawatt hours by 2021.

 ·       Charging infrastructure will continue to be an issue with bottlenecks capping growth in key Chinese, U.S. and European markets emerging in the mid-2030s" Bloomberg.

"While traditional car suppliers may be hurt by EV growth, some commodities will get a lift, according to BNEF:

 

·       Graphite demand will soar to 852,000 tons a year in 2030 from just 13,000 tons in 2015

 

 

·       Nickel and aluminum demand will both see demand from EVs rise to about 327,000 tons a year from just 5,000 tons in 2015

 

 

·       Production of lithium, cobalt and manganese will each increase more than 100-fold" Bloomberg.

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."

Bloomberg:

The Electric Car Revolution Is Accelerating

Lithium Race: First Tesla Model 3 Rolled Off The Assembly Line.

"Today Tesla Model 3 is going into production officially and it will be the most important product launch in all our electric cars' history. We are entering the mass market stage for electric cars and ESS exponential growth is next."

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

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."

YourCentralValley.com:

First Tesla Model 3 rolled off the assembly line.

Energy rEVolution And Lithium Race: Tesla To Supply World's Biggest Lithium Battery System For South Australia.

Elon Musk's dream to power the world with lithium batteries is getting into the reality by the day with every new Energy Storage System (ESS) installation being completed across the globe. ESS will be consuming more lithium batteries capacity than electric cars in time and will make Solar and Wind Power Generation not the alternative but the main sources of energy. Below are some links to make your own research.

Today Tesla Model 3 is going into production officially and it will be the most important product launch in all our electric cars history. We are entering the mass market stage for electric cars and ESS exponential growth is next.

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."

Tesla's Energy rEVolution: Elon Musk’s Grand Plan To Power The World With Batteries.

Elon Musk TED Talk: We Need 100 Gigafactories To Go 100% Renewable Energy And Tesla Will Announce 3 or 4 This Year.

Elon Musk was making his Ted talk recently in Vancouver and you can experience his ability to distort reality in our Lithium Universe first hand. Among very many mind-boggling ideas he reiterated that we will need 100 Tesla Gigafactories to move to 100% Renewable Energy for the whole world and Tesla will announce 3 or 4 new Gigafctories this year! 

Gigafactory 1 has tripled its production goal to over 100 GWh per year and China has announced to add more than 120 GWh production capacity per year as well. Security of Lithium Supply becomes the major competitive advantage for all major players in this phase of Energy rEVolution which is going into the mass market exponential growth stage with electric cars and Energy Storage Systems. Read more.

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. 

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

Exploration target at Mariana Lithium, Argentina. 

International Lithium NI 43-101 report.

Kirill Klip, Executive Chairman of ILC stated, "We are very pleased with the results of the maiden resource estimation at the Mariana lithium potash brine project, together with our strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium. This project is now moving from an early exploration stage to an advanced exploration stage where it will be more easily compared to other lithium brine projects in Argentina. We are looking forward to follow up with Ganfeng Lithium on the recommendations of this report in order to ensure the rapid advancement of the project towards the pilot stage and to conduct further feasibility studies that will investigate the economic viability of the Mariana project."

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Lithium Race: Daimler Announces $740 Million Battery Factory In China For Mercedes-Benz’s EVs.

We are finally moving into the mass market stage for EVs and related news is coming from all over the world. ElecTreck reports that Daimler is now announcing a new $740 million lithium battery factory in China. This project is a part of Daimler's new investments in JV with BAIC to build electric cars in China. Major automakers are not only decisively moving to electric cars like Volvo, but are trying to get a foothold in the largest auto market in the world in China. This announcement comes after we have learned about Tesla's negotiations in Shanghai to establish its own Gigafactory in China.

Electric cars are coming much faster than a lot of people are anticipating it and lithium supply chains will be under pressure from the demand side. There are reports already that lithium battery packs are in short supply and this rising demand for batteries will be driving the demand for lithium raw material supply. We have a total disconnect in the marketplace between exponential growth in EVs and ESS adoption rates and capital available to develop new lithium production. M&A will be an answer for some aggressive market players like Chinese, who are accumulating lithium assets all over the world now. After SQM news we are entering the new phase for the assessment of all M&A opportunities in the lithium sector.

The Switch And Lithium Race: Tesla Has Reached An Accord With Shanghai To Explore Production In China.

It is happening! Tesla comes to China, now the security of lithium supply will be in the headlines for the rest of the summer. We are at the tipping point for the lithium industry, the supply is not there to accommodate the exponential growth in EVs and Energy Storage space. Read more.

Awakening: Tesla Model 3 And The Hot Summer 2017 For The Lithium Supply Chain.

"Very slowly Lithium Industry is starting to get some attention from the investment crowd, but the real awakening is still ahead of us. 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 Megafactories are coming online in China.

Ganfeng Lithium has made a very interesting public disclosure in China about SQM "stopping a supply of Lithium Brine to Ganfeng in June". It is very difficult to judge the scope of this interruption in the lithium supply chain for Ganfeng at this moment, its reasons and when the situation will normalize, but the message is clear - the security of lithium supply is the critical issue for all the major players in this exponentially growing market. And the real test is still ahead of us, the auto industry is still talking about 5% - 10% - 15% of electric cars in total auto sales, but what will happen when all cars will be electric after 2025? Read more.

ElecTreck:

Daimler announces new $740 million battery factory in China for Mercedes-Benz’s EVs