Tesla and other electric vehicle manufacturers rely heavily on a few different minerals. One of them, lithium, is largely mined, refined and processed by China, though lithium deposits can be found worldwide. Still, China’s jump on the raw materials game for EV minerals will make it hard for other countries to compete at such a scale, and it could mean a few things for Tesla and other EV makers.
China is aggressively trying to maintain its dominance in lithium and other mineral processing for EV batteries, as depicted in a worldwide analysis of the industry shared by Gavekal Research earlier this month. The news, as reported by Barron’s, comes amidst surging EV demand as consumers begin to turn toward zero-emission technology — resulting in lithium price increases of as much as 400 percent over the last year.
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