#ElectricCar Showdown: #China And Tesla Scramble For #Cobalt and #Lithium Supply

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

As #China moves stealthily on the world’s #Cobalt and #Lithium supplies to feed an unprecedented #US$360-billion renewable energy push, watch what happens next in #Chile, where #Chinese investors are talking about a mega $2-billion battery factory to rival #Tesla.

Tesla in January switched on the power at its #Nevada battery #Gigafactory—and we’re just getting started here. Battery factories are popping up all over #Europe as well.

#SGF Energy is planning a gigafactory in #Sweden. Later this year, two are expected to open: #BMC’s in #Germany and #LG Chem’s in #Poland. #Samsung is also eyeing a gigafactory in #Hungary next year.

Cobalt supply is even more elusive than lithium supply, and the industry currently uses 42 percent of global cobalt production with the remaining 58 percent going to diverse industrial and military applications.