Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 88

Lithium-ion roadblocks drive development of US-based alternatives for grid battery storage – by Elizabeth McCarthy (Utility Dive – April 5, 2022)

April 6, 2022

https://www.utilitydive.com/

Lithium-ion batteries are the dominant technology used for energy storage today but since the start of the war in Ukraine, the price of imported lithium has gone up twofold, said MIT professor Yang Shao-Horn. It is “now the most expensive component” in lithium-ion batteries, she told conference participants. The price of other key metals has also soared.

“This sharp increase in the cost of lithium potentially can drive other [storage] technologies and move them faster,” she said, pointing to sodium-ion battery chemistries as one example. This technology is “moving rapidly,” nearly matching lithium-ion’s battery performance, with costs expected to be “substantially lower,” Shao-Horn noted.

Bigger investment in mining needed to meet climate goals, says LGIM – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – April 5, 2022)

April 6, 2022

https://www.ft.com/

Fund manager points out that energy transition depends on surge in supply of key metals

The decarbonisation of the global economy is at risk unless greater amounts of capital are directed towards the mining industry, the UK’s biggest fund manager has warned.

At current levels of investment Legal & General Investment Management reckons the world will not be able to achieve the “huge increase” in supply of industrial metals needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

EV policy is the Green New Steal – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – April 6, 2022)

April 6, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

Remember the joke about GM becoming Government Motors? Guess what!

A few years ago, a blog for the socialist left in Canada known as The Bullet published a commentary by U.S. activist Chris Kutalik under the headline “Make GM Government Motors Again.” The mention of “again” was a reference to the 2009 Obama administration’s US$80-billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry.

Ottawa and the province of Ontario chipped in with a $13.5-billion purchase of shares in the bankrupt Canadian branches of GM and Chrysler, eventually selling back to the companies in 2015 at a loss of about $3 billion.

Governments ignore mining in electrification push – by Rick Mills (Ahead of the Herd/Mining.com – April 4, 2022)

April 5, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

The supply chain for batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, electric motors, transmission lines, 5G — everything regarding electrification and decarbonization that is needed for a green economy — starts with metals and mining.

A green infrastructure and transportation spending push will mean a lot more metals will need to be mined, including lithium, nickel, and graphite for EV batteries; copper for electric vehicle wiring, charging stations and renewable energy projects; silver for solar panels; rare earths for permanent magnets that go into EV motors and wind turbines; and silver/ tin for the hundreds of millions of solder points necessary in making the new electrified economy a reality.

First Nation in Abitibi-Témiscamingue seeks independent review of potential mining project (CBC News Montreal – April 5, 2022)

April 5, 2022

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/

An Anishinabeg First Nation in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region wants to lead its own environmental assessment of a lithium mining project that the company Sayona is looking to develop on ancestral land.

The Long Point First Nation, whose 800 members mostly live in Winneway, Que., is concerned about the potential impacts that the project could have on its land and its traditional way of life.

‘Here for the long term’: Feds, Ontario announce more than $500 million for GM – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – April 5, 2022)

April 5, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

The federal government and the province of Ontario on Monday announced they would each contribute $259 million to General Motors Co. as it moves to revitalize its auto manufacturing operations in Canada.

GM said it is investing more than $2 billion in its operations and the federal and provincial money will support its assembly plant in Ingersoll, in southwest Ontario, where later this year it will start producing electric commercial vans, known as the BrightDrop.

Former Algoma Steel owners sign deal to help build lithium refinery in Thunder Bay – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – April 5, 2022)

April 5, 2022

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Essar Group and Avalon Advanced Materials team up with aim of having $500-million processing plant in operation by 2025 to serve electric vehicle market

Avalon Advanced Materials has found a global financing partner from India to help build a $500-million lithium refinery in Thunder Bay.

After its first development partner backed out, Avalon, a Toronto-based junior miner, announced April 4 that it’s signed a binding letter of intent with RenJoules International, a subsidiary of the Essar Group.

Biden’s Battery Metals Boost Could Ease U.S. Dependence On China – by Gabrielle Coppola (Bloomberg News – April 5, 2022)

April 5, 2022April 5, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden fired up mining companies, battery makers and environmentalists last week when he invoked Cold War powers to encourage domestic production of critical battery minerals for electric vehicles.

The president used the Defense Production Act — wielded by Harry Truman to make steel for the Korean War, and by Donald Trump to spur mask production in 2020 — to add lithium, nickel, graphite, cobalt and manganese to the list of items deemed critical for national defense.

Commodity prices increase as mining transitions to green energy – by Olivia Johnson (CIM Magazine – April 2022)

April 5, 2022

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

Nickel, cobalt and lithium continue to benefit from electric vehicle demand

A strong end to the year and accelerated prices in January have led to higher commodities forecasts, and metals such as copper, nickel and lithium are benefiting from “the red-hot EV market.”

In S&P Global’s State of the Market: Mining Q4-21 conference, Sean Decoff, senior analyst, metals and mining research at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said that in general, the industry is seeing positives. COVID-19 cases are dropping, many countries are completely scrapping restrictions and persistent inflation is benefiting commodity prices.

Metals World Agonizes Over War But Keeps Buying From Russia – by Jack Farchy, Mark Burton and James Attwood (Bloomberg News – April 4, 2022)

April 5, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Last month, 13 copper-industry representatives at the London Metal Exchange were asked whether Russian metal should be blocked from its warehouses. Ten of them said “yes.” But when advisory groups for nickel and aluminum discussed the same question, the general consensus was “no.”

The LME, which is the ultimate decision-maker, says it won’t take action that goes beyond government sanctions — which, so far, have left most of the metals industry untouched.

Ontario’s auto industry getting $500M boost from governments to build electric vehicles, pickups – by Rob Ferguson (Toronto Star – April 5, 2022)

April 5, 2022

https://www.thestar.com/

Ontario’s auto industry is getting another boost as governments pour $500 million into helping General Motors set up Canada’s first full-scale electric vehicle production in Ingersoll and a third shift making pickup trucks in Oshawa.

The extra work for Oshawa will bring the total number of jobs at the plant to 2,600 with 600 new hires. There is no firm commitment to build electric vehicles there yet, although it will be the only GM factory in North America with the capacity to build both light- and heavy-duty pickups.

Indonesia’s claim that banning nickel exports spurs downstreaming is questionable – by Krisna Gupta (The Jakarta Post – April 3, 2022)

April 4, 2022

https://www.thejakartapost.com/

The Indonesian government has claimed that its raw nickel export ban, which started in January 2021, has shown positive impacts after seeing increases in mining investments and exports of nickel-derived products.

This statement seems to be premature, considering that the government has failed to disclose the data that can support this argument. The Indonesian government has long desired to add high value to domestic mining products, especially nickel, through downstreaming.

The Battery Metal Really Worrying China Is Lithium, Not Nickel -by Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – April 2022)

April 4, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Nickel has captured much of the limelight among battery metals in recent weeks, and understandably so. Wild price swings, including an unprecedented 250% advance over two trading sessions amid a short squeeze, and concerns tied to Russia’s role as a key supplier have added to longstanding worries among automakers about securing enough of the material.

Even so, it’s another metal that’s been causing concern in the world’s largest electric vehicle market. China’s government last month hauled in a whole range of market players for two days of talks focused on halting a breakneck run-up in lithium, the metal that’s vital for almost all rechargeable batteries and critical to the roll-out of emissions-free cars and clean energy.

Carmakers dream of clean, green, mean electric machines – by Nick Carey and Barbara Lewis (Reuters – April 4, 2022)

April 4, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON, England, April 4 (Reuters) – An electric car is a clean car, right? If only it were so simple. From motor magnets with toxic histories to batteries made using copious fossil-fuel power, many challenges face carmakers seeking to purge dirtier materials from their supply chains to satisfy regulators and investors.

These obstacles represent opportunities for a growing group of companies in the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem that bet they can capitalise on that demand. They include Advanced Electric Machines (AEM) in northern England, which is working with Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) luxury brand Bentley and others in the auto industry to develop recyclable electric motors free of rare earth metals, which are often produced using polluting chemicals.

Lithium Americas CEO says more private-sector lithium funding needed despite Biden’s best efforts to stimulate industry – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – April 2, 2022)

April 4, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Jonathan Evans, head of Canada’s biggest lithium company, is hopeful that U.S. efforts to ignite domestic critical-minerals production will help fill the gap in private-sector lithium investment, as he searches for a partner to build a major new mine in Nevada.

U.S. President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act this week, which opens up the spigot further on the already extensive U.S. government funding for critical-minerals industries, including lithium.