What the move to EVs means for Lithium

The lithium price and Tesla's share price (Source: Bloomberg)

In this video, via Bloomberg, analysts discuss the impact of EVs on Lithium and Cobalt.

Key points:

• For now there is more than enough lithium and cobalt for batteries
• But by the mid-2020s, there might be a squeeze--lithium production would have to increase by 300%, cobalt production by 127%.  It can take from 2 to 15 years for new mines to start producing.  However there's a LOT of lithium in Chile.
• Car makers face significant capex to catch up with the new technology, plus we are at the end of an 8 year global upswing in car sales and production.  They'll prolly underperform -- except for Tesla.
• Even if price of lithium quadrupled, that would only increase battery prices by 2%
• If cobalt doubled or tripled in price, that would still cause only a less than 10% increase in price
• The prices of other components are plummeting, so the net impact will likely be zero.