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Global plug-in light vehicle sales, 2011-2015. (Department of Energy)

The growth of clean electricity and the reduction of vehicle emissions turn out to be closely linked. #EVs are also, according to the #DepartmentOfEnergy, already a lot cheaper to operate in most places, even with the very low gas prices out there now. As of April 2, the average price of gas in the United States was $2.07, but an “electric #eGallon” was $1.09, the agency said.

Read more at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/04/06/teslas-model-3-orders-are-through-the-roof-heres-what-that-means-for-the-planet/

Final approval of #Oaktree Capital Management’s takeover of bankrupt miner #Molycorp Inc. is being delayed because the investment fund may have too many partners in the deal.

Read more at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-05/oaktree-takeover-of-molycorp-delayed-by-too-many-new-co-owners

GMK #Norilsk Nickel PJSC, #Russia’s largest miner and #Nickel produer, plans to link its dividend to its debt and earnings so that payments can change according to market conditions.

Read more at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-04/norilsk-to-make-dividend-payments-linked-to-debt-and-earnings

An #Indonesian consortium led by veteran investment banker Agus Projosasmito is preparing to offer about $2 billion for control of #Newmont Mining Corp.’s operations in the country after lining up bank financing, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Read more at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-01/indonesian-investors-said-to-prepare-2-billion-newmont-mine-bid

The days of #Korean tech companies lagging behind their rivals in #Japan are long over. From #Smartphones to advanced screens, subsidiaries of #Samsung and #LG have market share that #Japanese brands such as #Panasonic should envy. One notable exception is the batteries used to power electric vehicles. Panasonic makes 36 percent of them (it’s partnered with #Tesla), compared with less than 8 percent for #LG Chem and 5 percent for Samsung SDI. That’s becoming a bigger deal: Worldwide demand for #ElectricVehicles swelled 87 percent last year, to 672,000, according to SNE Research.

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The price and range of the five-seater should make the vehicle appeal to new types of customers and could boost interest in other electric vehicles.

#Tesla Chief executive #ElonMusk said his goal was to produce about 500,000 vehicles a year once production is at full speed.

Read more at: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35940302

BYD Co., #China’s largest electric car and bus manufacturer, plans to obtain supplies of #Lithium to guard against spiraling costs of the raw material used in vehicle batteries, amid rising pressure on automakers to lower prices.

Read more at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-31/byd-plans-to-secure-lithium-supply-to-curb-rising-battery-costs

According to a senior official in the #Mines Ministry, the government was looking at one #RareEarth deposit in the central #Indian desert province of #Rajasthan to be put on the block, on an experimental basis, to widen the number of rare-earth miners in the country and ramp up production to pose a challenge to #China, the largest global supplier of rare earths

Read more at: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/india-looking-at-maiden-auction-of-rare-earths-2016-03-31

Chile, the world’s largest copper producer, has conceded that getting an accurate read on China’s future demand for the red metal has become increasingly difficult to forecast given the lack of transparency over how much is being stored in warehouses as collateral for loans.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/chiles-china-copper-conundrum-20160329-gnswo5.html#ixzz44OWxPNDL

#Researchers at the #DepartmentOfEnergy’s #OakRidgeNationalLaboratory have demonstrated a production method they estimate will reduce the cost of #CarbonFiber as much as 50 percent and the energy used in its production by more than 60 percent.

Read more at: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-03/drnl-osu032216.php