Business | Ahead of the pack

Why crashing lithium prices will not make electric cars cheaper

The race to secure enough of the battery metal is just getting started

Lithium production. Plant for processing lithium chloride into lithium carbonate for use in the production of batteries. The lithium chloride is extracted from mineral-rich brine in large evaporation ponds. Photographed in the Atacama Desert, Chile. — Not-so-precious metalImage: Science Photo Library

Apr 20th 2023

Among the commodities that are key to decarbonisation, lithium is in the driving seat. Dubbed “white gold”, the metal is needed to produce nearly all types of batteries powering electric vehicles (evs). A single pack typically includes ten kilograms of the stuff. In the past two years turbocharged ev sales worldwide helped boost prices twelve-fold, prodding miners to invest, carmakers to sign supply deals and governments to label it a strategic material. Most commodity prices stalled this winter, but lithium continued to ride high.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Ahead of the pack”