Electric vehicle revolution a rare investment opportunity as metals demand spikes – by Henry Lazenby – December 1, 2017)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The rate at which global automotive markets are adopting electric vehicles (EVs) is accelerating at a much faster pace than even some of the keenest market observers estimated at the start of 2017, and is opening up once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunities among the four key ‘energy metals’ – lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite.

Since the beginning of 2017, the market has reached a new peak of lithium-ion battery capacity in the pipeline. An additional 153 GWh has been added to planned capacity build-outs this year alone, taking the total to 372 GWh.

“But when you look at where we need to be by 2025 – 750 GWh, of which 645 GWh is for EVs – we are still way short. What the megafactory trend is doing, however, is creating a new production base that did not exist before.

This will be the base for the new auto industry, as it is engulfed by electrification,” founder and MD of London-based Benchmark Minerals Intelligence Simon Moores tells Mining Weekly in an interview.

According to the analyst – who has had his finger on the emerging ‘energy metals pulse’ long before prices for the basket of critical battery metals started their dramatic, and relatively recent, upward trajectories – lithium-ion battery demand will continue to be the story that dominates the lithium market.

For the rest of this article: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/electric-vehicle-revolution-a-rare-investment-opportunity-as-metals-demand-spikes-2017-12-01