BEIJING (AP) 鈥� Threatened by possible shortages of lithium for electric car batteries, automakers are racing to lock in supplies of the once-obscure 鈥渨hite gold鈥� in a politically and environmentally fraught competition from China to to .
Co. and the parent company of China鈥檚 BYD Auto Ltd. went straight to the source and bought stakes in lithium miners, a rare step in an industry that relies on outside vendors for copper and other raw materials. Others are investing in lithium refining or ventures to recycle the silvery-white metal from used batteries.
A shortfall in lithium supplies would be an obstacle for plans to to tens of millions of electric vehicles a year. It is fueling political conflict over resources and complaints about the environmental cost of extracting them.
鈥淲e already have that risk鈥� of not being able to get enough, GM鈥檚 chief financial officer, Paul A. Jacobson, said at a Deutsche Bank conference in mid-June.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to have partnerships with people that can get us the lithium in the form that we need,鈥� Jacobson said.
Ford Motor Co. has signed contracts stretching up to 11 years into the future with lithium suppliers on two continents. Volkswagen AG and Honda Motor Co. are trying to reduce their need for freshly mined ore by forming ventures.
Global lithium output is on track to triple this decade, but sales of electric SUVs, sports cars and sedans that rose 55% last year threaten to outrun that. Each battery requires about eight kilograms (17 pounds) of lithium, plus cobalt, nickel and other metals.
鈥淭here will be a shortage of EV battery supplies,鈥� said Joshua Cobb, senior auto analyst for BMI.
Adding to uncertainty, lithium has emerged as another conflict in strained U.S.-Chinese relations.
Beijing, Washington and other governments see metal supplies for electric vehicles as a strategic issue and are tightening controls on access. ordered three Chinese companies last year to sell lithium mining assets on security grounds.
Other governments including Indonesia, Chile and Zimbabwe are trying to maximize their return on deposits of lithium, cobalt and nickel by requiring miners to invest in refining and processing before they can export.
GM is buying direct access to lithium by investing $650 million in the 91原创 developer of a Nevada mine that is the biggest U.S. source. In return, GM says it will get enough for 1 million vehicles a year.
Conservationists and American Indians are asking a federal court to block development of the Nevada mine, which the Biden administration has embraced as part of its clean energy agenda. Opponents say it might poison water supplies and soil and pollute nesting grounds for birds.
Despite rising output, the industry may face shortages of lithium and cobalt as early as 2025 if enough isn鈥檛 invested in production, according to Leonardo Paoli and Timur Gul of the International Energy Agency.
鈥淪upply side bottlenecks are becoming a real challenge,鈥� Paoli and Gul said in a report last year.
Automakers might be putting in their own money to reassure 鈥渘otoriously risk-averse鈥� miners, according to Alastair Bedwell of GlobalData. He said miners are reluctant to 鈥済o all out鈥� on lithium until they are sure the industry won鈥檛 switch to batteries made with other metals.
Even if they do, developing lithium sources is a yearslong process.
Worldwide lithium resources are estimated at 80 million tons by the .
are the biggest at 21 millions tons, followed by Australia with 17 million and Chile with 9 million.
Forecasts of annual production range as high as 1.5 million tons by 2030. But demand, if EV sales keep rising at double-digit annual rates, is forecast to increase to up to 3 million tons.
EV sales took off in 2021, more than doubling over the previous year to 6.8 million, according to EV Volumes, a research firm. Last year鈥檚 sales rose to 10.5 million.
China accounted for 60% of last year鈥檚 sales, two-thirds of production and three-quarters of battery manufacturing.
President Joe Biden last year announced an official goal for half of all new cars sold in the United State to be electric or other zero-emissions technology by 2030.
As sales rise, so does official anxiety, especially in Washington and Beijing, about access to lithium and other minerals and the potential for strategic competition.
unit, PowerCo, signed an agreement with Canada last August to develop suppliers of 鈥渃ritical raw materials鈥� including lithium, cobalt and nickel.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in a statement welcomed cooperation with 鈥渃lose friends鈥� on 鈥渞aw material security.鈥�
China鈥檚 government the United States, Canada, Japan and other governments of misusing phony security concerns to hurt Chinese competitors in electric cars, smartphones, clean energy and other emerging technologies.
Other governments welcome Chinese investment. China鈥檚 biggest lithium producer, Ganfeng Lithium Co., bought Argentina鈥檚 Lithea Inc. last year for $962 million.
About two-thirds of the world鈥檚 lithium comes from mines. That involves crushing rock and using acids to extract metals. It leaves toxic heaps of chemical-laced tailings.
The rest is extracted from or salt flats. That can require vast evaporation ponds.
The industry is working on technology to extract lithium from hot springs and clay deposits with less environmental impact.
As they ramp up supplies, automakers face another bottleneck: Lack of refining capacity to purify raw lithium into battery material.
Tesla Inc. is building a refinery in Texas. Others including BMW AG are buying stakes in refiners.
As for GM, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know鈥� whether it will build its own refinery, Jacobson said.
Joe Mcdonald, The Associated Press
