TORONTO — Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli calls it the “sleeper story” of the province’s massive auto industry transition. Now that his quest to establish end-to-end electric vehicle production in the province has landed two battery plants, he’s setting his sights on lithium hydroxide, a critical component of those batteries.
There are two or three “very good prospects” for bringing a lithium hydroxide facility to the province, with a particular eye on northern Ontario, Fedeli said in an interview.
“We’ve travelled around the world luring, recruiting these prospects,” he said. “(It’s) absolutely necessary. You can’t make a battery without lithium hydroxide.” Electric vehicles — at the moment — run on lithium ion batteries, made up of a cathode, anode, separator and a liquid electrolyte to allow lithium ions to move between the cathode and anode.
Lithium is one of the key raw materials required for lithium ion batteries — others include nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite — but it must be processed into the chemical compound lithium hydroxide to be used in those batteries.
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