Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 111

Opinion: Electric vehicles aren’t going to take over any time soon – by Paul Brandus (Market Watch – January 6, 2021)

January 7, 2021

https://www.marketwatch.com/

It’s meaningless to have the right investment thesis if your timing is bad. No one learned this lesson more in 2020 than all the sad sacks who shorted Tesla TSLA, 5.73%.

Given such metrics as the current price-to-earnings ratio of 1,400, to name but one, the thesis that the electric vehicle maker is wildly overvalued is even more valid today than a year ago. But the timing of betting against it? Who knows.

You know what Mr. Market says: The market can stay irrational longer than most investors can stay solvent. Mr. Market, if you haven’t been introduced, was the character created by Warren Buffett’s mentor—Benjamin Graham—in his 1949 classic “The Intelligent Investor.” In it, he warned of the dangers of market irrationality and group think.

Firm clarifies information about its lithium plan – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – January 3, 2021)

January 7, 2021

https://www.chroniclejournal.com/

A Vancouver company proposing to build a US$457-million lithium plant in Thunder Bay has clarified “misleading” information it released about the project in November following a review by the British Columbia Securities Commission.

“Accordingly, the company has retracted and restated certain statements contained in a Nov. 4, 2020, news release, and advises the public to not rely on the retracted statements,” Rock Tech Lithium Inc. said in a statement in December.

A Northwestern Ontario mining-industry veteran said corporate retractions are not unheard of, and occasionally occur when news releases go out before being thoroughly reviewed.

Child labour, toxic leaks: the price we could pay for a greener future – by Robin McKie (The Guardian – January 3, 2021)

January 7, 2021

https://www.theguardian.com/

The battle to stave off Earth’s looming climate crisis is driving engineers to develop hosts of new green technologies. Wind and solar plants are set to replace coal and gas power stations, while electric cars oust petrol and diesel vehicles from our roads. Slowly our dependance on fossil fuels is set to diminish and so ease global heating.

But scientists warn there will be an environmental price to pay for this drive to create a world powered by green technology. Prospecting for the materials to construct these devices, then mining them, could have very serious ecological consequences and major impacts on biodiversity, they say.

“The move towards net zero carbon emissions is going to create new stresses on our planet, at least in the short term,” said Prof Richard Herrington, head of earth sciences at the Natural History Museum, London. “We are going to have to learn how to consider profit and loss with regard to ecosystems just as we do now when we are considering economic issues.”

Mining billionaire Robert Friedland eyes green energy transition with new shell company – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 5, 2021)

January 5, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Billionaire financier and mine builder Robert Friedland is aiming to raise as much as US$230-million to acquire a green energy company as he doubles down on efforts to make money from the global transition away from fossil fuels to a low emissions future.

Last week, Ivanhoe Capital Acquisition Corp. filed paperwork to raise money for a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that will trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The blank-cheque shell company will have 24 months to find an asset to acquire. If it is unable to do a deal, the proceeds raised must be given back to shareholders. Mr. Friedland will serve as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer.

2021 will be northern Ontario’s turn to benefit from EV explosion, minister says – by Norris McDonald (Toronto Star – January 1, 2021)

January 5, 2021

https://www.thestar.com/

Norris McDonald is a retired Toronto Star editor who continues to write for Wheels under contract.

Vic Fedeli, who’s the provincial minister of economic development, job creation and trade, and I have a couple of things in common, among them our affection for northern Ontario.

He’s a former mayor of North Bay and represents the riding of Nipissing in the legislature. I was a kid in Kapuskasing.

We had a long chat just before Christmas about how southern Ontario benefited in 2020 by $5 billion in auto industry investment that will result in several thousand new jobs and the preservation of thousands of others.

Indonesia: Widodo steps up bid to woo investment from Tesla’s Elon Musk – by Resty Woro Yuniar (South China Morning Post – December 15, 2020)

December 17, 2020

https://www.scmp.com/

President Joko Widodo’s personal invitation for Tesla chief executive Elon Musk to invest in Indonesia is the latest bid by Southeast Asia’s largest economy to become part of the global supply chain for the burgeoning electric-vehicle (EV) industry, which a 2018 European Commission report estimated could be worth up to US$66.7 billion annually.

On the Friday call, Widodo and Musk discussed the industry and the main components for EV batteries, the investment ministry said in a statement. The president also asked Musk to consider Indonesia as a potential launch site for SpaceX, his aerospace manufacturing and space transport venture.

Widodo’s call was another attempt by Jakarta to communicate with Musk after a delegation led by the president’s top envoy, coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment Luhut Pandjaitan, failed to meet him upon a visit to the United States last month.

Electric cars are on the rise in cities. Can power grids cope? – by Nick Carey and Helena Soderpalm (Christian Science Monitor – December 16, 2020)

December 17, 2020

https://www.csmonitor.com/

A stroll down Stockholm’s longest street that takes its name from the mythical Valhalla, where Norse gods feast and fight until doomsday, gives a hint of the battle today’s power grids face to keep pace with government goals to electrify transport.

Early this month, a man selling Christmas trees looked on as workers installed 10 public vehicle charging stations with two power outlets each in Valhallavägen, which is around 2.17 miles long. It’s progress, but not enough.

Sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles during the first nine months of 2020 rose by 122% in the European Union, accounting for about 8% of new car sales, industry figures show.

OPINION: On EV policy, Trudeau’s government has a pitch for Biden – by Adam Radwanski (Globe and Mail – September 17, 2020)

December 17, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

After Joe Biden takes office next month, one of the earliest cross-border priorities for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals will be gauging the next U.S. president’s interest in setting continental quotas for electric-vehicle sales.

For months, there has been speculation about Mr. Trudeau’s government imposing a zero-emissions vehicle mandate, addressing auto manufacturers’ perceived failure to meet demand for EVs.

Its new plan for meeting the country’s climate-change targets, released last Friday, didn’t go that far. But it laid the groundwork, pledging to work on “supply-side policy options” that include “regulations and investments to accelerate and expand” the availability of ZEVs.

Thunder Bay could be a globally known hub for clean tech metals processing – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 14, 2020)

December 15, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Lithium processing could put northwestern Ontario city on forefront of a new age in mining

When John Mason worked as a provincial government geologist on the north shore of Lake Superior, there’s wasn’t much grassroots exploration or talk about lithium.

“On and off,” said the mining services project manager with the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC). “Very minimal.”

The Ontario Geological Survey documented plenty of occurrences in the Kenora District and the Georgia Lake area close to Beardmore, where Rock Tech Lithium has a very advanced exploration property, but the market to actually mine the commodity just wasn’t there.

Inobat to create ‘green battery ecosystem’ in Europe – by Editor (Mining.com – December 14, 2020)

December 15, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

European battery producer InoBat Auto has announced its ‘green battery ecosystem’ for Europe, as the race to develop and produce the best and ‘greenest’ electric vehicle (EV) batteries heats up.

InoBat’s AI-driven R&D battery production centre, which was recently approved by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), is the first stage of the company’s green battery ecosystem, which begins with discovering and developing better performing, and more environmentally friendly cell chemistries more efficiently.

Inobat said this can be achieved through a patented combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and high throughput (HTP) technology, which allows for large numbers of different battery cell chemistries to be tested and improved simultaneously under one roof in InoBat’s battery centre in Slovakia.

Hydro-Québec’s battery push is built on making the province a lithium player. Will it work? – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 10, 2020)

December 10, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Quebec has high hopes of becoming a player in the global lithium market with Hydro-Québec moving into the battery-storage industry, but experts say the challenges are immense and the province’s track record doesn’t bode well.

On Wednesday, Hydro-Québec announced plans to design and sell lithium iron phosphate batteries. The public utility aims to sell large numbers of the industrial energy storage units to transmission providers, distributors and other power producers.

Hydro-Québec says the global lithium iron phosphate battery market could generate $3-billion in sales a year by 2030, and the utility hopes to gain about 10-per-cent market share.

OPINION: Tesla’s lavishly priced shares might soon lure it into the M&A game – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – December 10, 2020)

December 10, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Tesla boss Elon Musk may be studying the blockbuster AOL-Time Warner merger of 20 years ago, the biggest, most sensational deal of the era. That’s because he may be considering a similar stunt himself – using Tesla Inc.’s crazily overvalued shares as a takeover currency.

But first, a reminder of those heady days, when the dot-com boom was still intact and America Online – better known as AOL, led by Steve Case – went shopping.

By then AOL was a tech juggernaut, a pioneer of e-mail, web portals, instant messaging and browsing. Mr. Case added CompuServe and Netscape to the mix, and investors fell in love with the whole techy mess.

Green trend stirs copper and nickel markets as supply tightens – by Rurika Imahashi (Nikkei Asia – November 30, 2020)

November 30, 2020

https://asia.nikkei.com/

TOKYO — Rising environmental awareness and the global shift to eco-friendly cars and energy sources are raising a question in the market for key metals used in such “green” sectors: Will there be enough supply?

In just the past month, the global mood surrounding the tackling of climate change has changed significantly. In late-October, China said it was planning to phase out traditional combustion engine cars and make all new ones sold in 2035 eco-friendly in the form of electric and plug-in hybrid versions.

Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election could bring a huge change to environmental policy in the world’s biggest economy after President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. Before the Nov. 3 contest, Biden had pledged a $2 trillion clean energy plan.

WA establishes battery taskforce – by Esmarie Iannucci (MiningWeekly.com – November 30, 2020)

November 30, 2020

https://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian government on Monday named the members for its Future Battery Industry taskforce who will actively explore global opportunities to grow the state’s critical minerals industry.

The taskforce includes 19 mining companies, industry bodies and union groups, including BHP Nickel West, Lynas, Independence Group, Northern Minerals, Pilbara Minerals, Albemarle Lithium, Australian Vanadium, the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec), the Australian Manufacturing Worker’s Union, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy for Western Australia (CME) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, besides others.

Rare earth riches in the mine waste pile – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 25, 2020)

November 26, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Avalon Advanced Materials looks to clean up, extract value from tailings dumps

Shuttered mine sites with legacy environmental issues pose a unique opportunity for Avalon Advanced Materials to recover rare earth minerals.

Don Bubar, CEO of the Toronto-based lithium and rare earth producer, talked strategy last week in a web call to shareholders, a day after announcing a partnership with Rock Tech Lithium on a possible processing plant for Thunder Bay.

Avalon is carving out a space in the clean and green tech economy with a diverse mix of Northern Ontario exploration properties in lithium, rare earth metals, cesium, tantalum and other non-traditional minerals that the company hopes to advance over the next couple of years.