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We're also still in the middle of the Covid Wars (mainly the war on Covid Mitigation). So we'll see a continued need for solutions for ones who survive the collateral damage.
I don't think GS would go out of business even if the whole country goes, they would just be picking up the pieces off the bottom and coming out like a rose like they've done before.
Of course about $20 might be the real support.
GS just started with them at neutral with a $28 price target. So maybe about here around $23 for support. Not staking my life on it, only a few more shares. LOL
Taken long enough, lot sticky suckers stuck on that one. It will probably crash through that gap. To hard for any buying on it for effect of slowing it down south. I haven't even thought about touching that with a 1000ft pole since I sold over a $100 at the start.
Yes, went out of them with a small loss. Thought they might do better, but a lot of these EV's sort just followed Rivian and the air went out, flattened many.
It might be getting there now. LOL
A battery stock that might pull something out of it's hat. GMGMF in US and GMG in Canada. Aluminum Ion, no Lithium.
There's talk saying Amazon backing away also. To much drain on battery with normal air or heat usage, so that's not going to work to well considering climate extremes that's going to continue to worsen.
I think the Ford deal or really non-deal was planned ahead. I could be just conspiracy thinking, but it is like some of the big boyz games they play. LOL
Rivian belongs under a $100 and probably under IPO level. Whether we see that not sure, but it already went down in the teens close to where I originally got in, and the momo has been played out I think. LGVN needs to fill that gap it left at the halt resume, but who knows when.
ASTR going to settle down a bit. They put out a lot shares that dampened the run down a bit. Still a pretty good story for long positions somewhere in the settling.
Yes they do. Those rockets even though a lot cheaper than traditional which is why they have the future orders, but they still cost a lot of money for how many they are planning on launching up front.
I'm sure they had it planned on a successful launch. Too bad they didn't wait for a few days for notice, it would've been a screamer.
ASTR lot of dilution that damped it I think. Sold mine at about $13. Over 30% for me. We'll see how it goes, there might be some play left today. I think there is growth for the future after it settles down and after they sell a bunch. Some good story with Astra Space for to hold some long, just have to see where it settles, but I think there might be some good trading if one doesn't expect the moon today.
The Matrix.
For sure. The difference would be extensive.
I figured there would be and should be. Remember OJ. Pretty much everyone knew what the outcome would be with this case. The court case and "justice" was a total sham and there was zero chance of any guilty outcome. This outcome of course will lead to many other killings on the excuse of self defense and extreme right movement validation, and more guns being introduced with the "other side" for "their protection", validation, and "fighting fire with fire". The "kid" was not a good kid due to his upbringing and the rest of his life ahead of him will be that he will be nothing but a bad adult. If he got completely away from his environment of extremist and "white power" hiding behind the flag wrap, he might of had a chance, but this is not going to happen. The coaching and protection that he has had and continued to have bombarded on him, will create lack of remorse and many more misdeeds to come. The guy and his cohorts are a lost cause as a decent human beings and will remain dangerous to society. Our only hope is for maybe civil suits might have effect on the general public, the real "good folks", and the fake "patriot" bs views.
On an ironic note, this is a statement from the Aurora police dept on two 17yr and one 16yr old's being shot following a shooting from another high school not far away. Maybe if the judge took this view against the enablers of this kids actions instead of being an extra defense for the killing, things might be a bit different;
“The violence, especially involving our youth, must stop. We have a call to action for parents: check on your kids. Kids are getting guns from somewhere. We need parents to be more involved and start checking their kids' rooms and vehicles and pay attention to who they are associating with,” the department said in the statement.
Fight in school parking lot ends with three students shot
Substitute parents with all adults and who they associate with is really true irony. What are we impressing upon our younger generation with this case, what are they supposed to think and act, and what do we expect to happen? The courts and adults have said Rittenhouse actions and killing is ok and righteous. All it has done is put more kerosene on the fire.
I think we might have gained an advantage over the delay of launch this time. It will give the weekend for the story to be picked up by more main media (not just the space science media) and the social network. More power to the punch so to speak and more interest for Monday vs Friday. It gives time for more awareness and divulge into who Astra Space is, what they have going for them, the industry in general, and future demand and needs for that industry and ASTR products to address those needs. In other words, more solid money and more solid pps rise, not just the short term trading value. It also gave me the opportunity to pick up more shares in the low 9s before market open yesterday on the disappointment dip. Could of been a bad bet if the launch failed, but it was a success in this case.
A fun factoid; Today in history Nov 20, 1998 the first segment of the International Space Station was launched by the Russian proton rocket Zarya
We sure have come a long way since then. The ISS then came a long way from the first satellite Sputnick1 in 1957. A toast to what we will see in the future and Astra Space's part in that.
PLL specific news is what is going to move the stock
Alright ASTR. Thurs got delayed, added a bunch in the low 9s on the dip of disappointment (the hand wasn't over, still in play for the next night), we'll see what Mon brings.
Once a vision turns into daily occurrences as the time clock changes into the future.
https://www.space.com/astra-reaches-orbit-first-time-lv0007
Astra rocket reaches orbit for 1st time on test flight for US military
By Mike Wall about 6 hours ago
The fourth try was the charm for the Bay Area startup.
The Bay Area startup's 43-foot-tall (13 meters) Launch Vehicle 0007 (LV0007) lifted off from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Alaska's Kodiak Island on Saturday (Nov. 20) at 1:16 a.m. EST (0616 GMT), carrying a dummy payload on a test flight for the U.S. military.
Just nine minutes later, LV0007's upper stage slipped into orbit about 310 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth, notching a huge milestone for Astra.
"We are absolutely bursting with pride at LV0007 — lucky number seven," Carolina Grossman, Astra's director of product management, said during a webcast of the launch. "This represents a huge, huge step in our mission to improve life on Earth from space."
Video: Watch Astra's Rocket 3.2 launch on its 1st successful flight
The upper stage of Astra's LV0007 powers its way to orbit on Nov. 20, 2021.
The upper stage of Astra's LV0007 powers its way to orbit on Nov. 20, 2021. (Image credit: Footage provided by NASASpaceflight LLC and Astra Space Inc.)
Astra, which was founded in 2016, aims to secure a large portion of the small-satellite launch market with its line of cost-effective, ever-evolving rockets. Those rockets are designed to be highly responsive and flexible as well; Astra's entire launch system can be transported in just a few standard shipping containers.
The company already has a number of customers, some of whom are very high-profile. For example, in May, Astra announced that it had inked a launch contract with San Francisco company Planet, which operates the world's largest fleet of Earth-observing satellites.
And NASA selected Astra to launch its Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats mission, or TROPICS for short. TROPICS will study hurricanes using six tiny cubesats, which Astra will loft over three launches in the first half of 2022, if all goes according to plan.
Saturday morning's launch was Astra's fourth-ever orbital test flight. The first attempt, in September 2020, ended shortly after liftoff when the company's rocket suffered a problem with its guidance system.
Astra was back on the pad just three months later for try number number two, which succeeded in reaching space. However, the company's rocket ran out of fuel just a few seconds before attaining orbital velocity.
The third attempt occurred on Aug. 28. Just after liftoff that day, one of the five first-stage engines on Astra's LV0006 conked out, causing the rocket to slide horizontally off the pad. The vehicle recovered nicely and soared high into the Alaska sky, but the flight ended up being terminated after about 2.5 minutes.
Click here for more Space.com videos...
RELATED STORIES:
—The history of rockets
—Astra reaches space during 2nd orbital test launch
—Astra goes public, becomes 1st launch company to trade on Nasdaq
All four of the orbital attempts to date have occurred from the Pacific Spaceport Complex, though Astra aims to launch from a variety of locations around the world eventually. The two most recent flights have been test missions for the U.S. military that carried dummy payloads not designed to be deployed.
We should expect more spaceflight action over the coming weeks and months from Astra, which hopes to ramp up to a nearly daily launch cadence by 2025.
"We have rocket serial number 8, 9, 10 in production," Astra CEO and co-founder Chris Kemp said during Saturday's webcast, just after LV0007 reached orbit. "We're just getting started."
Astra's ambitions extend beyond building and launching rockets. For example, the company is also developing its own satellite bus, which will allow customers to integrate their payloads into a spacecraft they don't have to build themselves. And Astra recently filed an application with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to assemble a constellation of 13,600 internet-beaming satellites.
Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
Alright ASTR. Nice. Lets see what happens Mon. and beyond. Once a vision turns into daily occurrences as the time clock changes into the future.
https://www.space.com/astra-reaches-orbit-first-time-lv0007
Astra rocket reaches orbit for 1st time on test flight for US military
By Mike Wall about 6 hours ago
The fourth try was the charm for the Bay Area startup.
The Bay Area startup's 43-foot-tall (13 meters) Launch Vehicle 0007 (LV0007) lifted off from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Alaska's Kodiak Island on Saturday (Nov. 20) at 1:16 a.m. EST (0616 GMT), carrying a dummy payload on a test flight for the U.S. military.
Just nine minutes later, LV0007's upper stage slipped into orbit about 310 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth, notching a huge milestone for Astra.
"We are absolutely bursting with pride at LV0007 — lucky number seven," Carolina Grossman, Astra's director of product management, said during a webcast of the launch. "This represents a huge, huge step in our mission to improve life on Earth from space."
Video: Watch Astra's Rocket 3.2 launch on its 1st successful flight
The upper stage of Astra's LV0007 powers its way to orbit on Nov. 20, 2021.
The upper stage of Astra's LV0007 powers its way to orbit on Nov. 20, 2021. (Image credit: Footage provided by NASASpaceflight LLC and Astra Space Inc.)
Astra, which was founded in 2016, aims to secure a large portion of the small-satellite launch market with its line of cost-effective, ever-evolving rockets. Those rockets are designed to be highly responsive and flexible as well; Astra's entire launch system can be transported in just a few standard shipping containers.
The company already has a number of customers, some of whom are very high-profile. For example, in May, Astra announced that it had inked a launch contract with San Francisco company Planet, which operates the world's largest fleet of Earth-observing satellites.
And NASA selected Astra to launch its Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats mission, or TROPICS for short. TROPICS will study hurricanes using six tiny cubesats, which Astra will loft over three launches in the first half of 2022, if all goes according to plan.
Saturday morning's launch was Astra's fourth-ever orbital test flight. The first attempt, in September 2020, ended shortly after liftoff when the company's rocket suffered a problem with its guidance system.
Astra was back on the pad just three months later for try number number two, which succeeded in reaching space. However, the company's rocket ran out of fuel just a few seconds before attaining orbital velocity.
The third attempt occurred on Aug. 28. Just after liftoff that day, one of the five first-stage engines on Astra's LV0006 conked out, causing the rocket to slide horizontally off the pad. The vehicle recovered nicely and soared high into the Alaska sky, but the flight ended up being terminated after about 2.5 minutes.
Click here for more Space.com videos...
RELATED STORIES:
—The history of rockets
—Astra reaches space during 2nd orbital test launch
—Astra goes public, becomes 1st launch company to trade on Nasdaq
All four of the orbital attempts to date have occurred from the Pacific Spaceport Complex, though Astra aims to launch from a variety of locations around the world eventually. The two most recent flights have been test missions for the U.S. military that carried dummy payloads not designed to be deployed.
We should expect more spaceflight action over the coming weeks and months from Astra, which hopes to ramp up to a nearly daily launch cadence by 2025.
"We have rocket serial number 8, 9, 10 in production," Astra CEO and co-founder Chris Kemp said during Saturday's webcast, just after LV0007 reached orbit. "We're just getting started."
Astra's ambitions extend beyond building and launching rockets. For example, the company is also developing its own satellite bus, which will allow customers to integrate their payloads into a spacecraft they don't have to build themselves. And Astra recently filed an application with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to assemble a constellation of 13,600 internet-beaming satellites.
Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
Either that or whack-a-mole. LOL
LAC ended making 38.33 for a high today. A 5% increase from the high set less than two weeks ago.
Nice, way to play it. LAC volatility has given opportunity for several different styles of trading. Day, swing, or long and everything in-between.
You bet, love the volatility. Here's another article to sway the public sentiment. LAC is listed #2 in the list of stocks to play.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Is-Lithium-The-Best-Bet-On-A-Overheated-EV-Market.html
Is Lithium The Best Bet On A Overheated EV Market?
By Alex Kimani - Nov 18, 2021, 6:00 PM CST
Wall Street is raising serious concerns about sky-high valuations of EV-makers
Lithium markets have grown significantly tighter in 2021
EV-makers continue to use more lithium per battery
Join Our Community
The EV revolution is well and truly underway, and the sector continues setting new records. A recent report by the Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KAII) shows that global EV sales exceeded 3 million units in the first three quarters of 2021, a run rate that puts it on course to break 4 million units a year for the first time ever. BloombergNEF is even more sanguine and expects global sales of electric passenger vehicles this year to clock in at 5.6 million units, good for an impressive 8% of new vehicle sales.
China remains, by far, the biggest buyer of electric vehicles, with 1.76 million units sold in the country during the period. The United States comes in a distant second with 272,554 units followed by Germany 243,892 units; UK 131,832 units; France 114,836 units; and Norway 84,428 units. EV sales accounted for 9.4% of new vehicle sales in China but just 2.3% in the USA.
On a company basis, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) remains the most popular model after moving 625,624 units; China's SAIC Motor sold 413,037 units; Volkswagen 287,852 units; and China's BYD Corp. (NYSE:BYD) with 189,751 units. Back in October, Tesla reported that it delivered 241,300 electric vehicles during the third quarter of 2021, more than 70% higher than last year's deliveries for the same period and significantly better than the 220,900 deliveries predicted by Wall Street.
Sales figures for the fourth quarter are already looking great, with Xpeng Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) and BYD Co (NYSE:BYD) reporting that October sales tripled vs. a year earlier while Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) has reported that sales have doubled.
While these are very impressive numbers by any yardstick, investing in EV stocks is anything but simple or straightforward.
To wit, those rosy growth numbers have not stopped a cross-section of Wall Street from raising serious concerns about the stratospheric valuations in the space.
According to Bernstein analysts, the 15 largest ICE manufacturers command a collective market cap of $1.2T compared to the $1.1T collective valuation of pure-play EV vendors, despite the fact that the former sell 99% of all new vehicles globally while the latter manage a minuscule 1%.
And that could prove problematic for EV stocks.
Steep valuations
Bernstein's Tony Sacconaghi makes a pretty succinct point about how the market values EVs versus traditional ICE makers:
"The thinking–of course–is that pure play EV vendors will ultimately come to dominate the automotive world. In 2014, they accounted for 15% of all BEVs sold. Today they account for 28%. However, even if they ultimately were to account for 50% of all EVs sold by 2030 – which may be aggressive – it remains difficult to justify their current valuations."
Bernstein is worried that the market is assuming that traditional OEMs will not be able to deliver competitive EV offerings in the future, or they will be very delayed in doing so. Further, the market appears to think that EV upstarts will be able to generate significantly more profit per car, mainly by taking advantage of better distribution and autonomy/add-on services. The analyst points out that this assumption is not entirely without merit since full autonomous driving priced at $10K per car would radically change the margin (and valuation) profile of the industry.
But Sacconaghi begs to differ with the assumption that pure EVs like Tesla will always maintain a huge operational advantage over their late-to-the-party ICE rivals:
"That said, our contention is that the automotive industry is an increasingly global and hypercompetitive industry and we believe that surplus profits and technology innovation will likely be competed away over time, as has been the case historically."
Further, EV companies remain vulnerable to short-term headwinds including valuation concerns and supply chain bottlenecks , with newer pure-play EV upstarts such as Fisker (NYSE:FSR), Faraday Future Intelligent (NASDAQ:FFIE), Lordstown Motors (NASDAQ:RIDE), Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA), Lucid Motors (NASDAQ:LCID), Nio (NYSE:NIO), XPeng (NYSE:XPEV), Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI), Canoo (NASDAQ:GOEV) and Rivian (RIVN) more vulnerable.
Indeed, whereas TSLA boasts an impressive 54.3% YTD return, many EV startups are struggling: FFIE (-15.6%), RIDE (-74.5%), NKLA (-12.3%), XPEV (+12.8), Li (+11.6), GOEV (-21.7%), and WKHS (-65.7%). Fisker and Lucid Motors are outliers in this category with YTD returns of 46.1% and 425%, respectively.
Lithium boom
Investing in the lithium sector appears like a safer way to play the EV boom.
With the energy transition in full swing, Wall Street experts have predicted that metals that power the clean energy sector such as lithium, copper, nickel, and cobalt are poised to become the oil of the future.
According to a recent Eurasia Review analysis, prices for the four metals could reach historical peaks for an unprecedented, sustained period in a net-zero emissions scenario, with the total value of production rising more than four-fold for the period 2021-2040, and even rivaling the total value of crude oil production.
In a net-zero emissions scenario, the metals' demand boom could lead to a more than fourfold increase in the value of metals production–totaling $13 trillion accumulated over the next two decades for the four metals alone. This could rival the estimated value of oil production in a net-zero emissions scenario over that same period, making the four metals macro-relevant for inflation, trade, and output, and providing significant windfalls to commodity producers.
Last year, Mining.com launched the EV Battery Metals Index, a tool that tracks the value of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other battery metals flowing into the global EV industry at any given point in time. The index combines two main sets of data: prices paid for the mined minerals at the point of entry into the global battery supply chain and the sales-weighted volume of the raw materials in electric and hybrid passenger car batteries sold around the world.
According to an August Mining.com report, the EV Metal Index clocked in at $2.68 billion by the end of June, which in effect means that more EV battery metal business was done in H1 2021 than all of 2020, itself a record year.
Lithium continues to lead the way, with average lithium on a per-vehicle basis, including hybrids was up 30% year over year in June, jumping from 14kg to just over 18kg. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, lithium prices have doubled year-to-date and now tops $16,500 a tonne (hydroxide ex-works China mid-August).
Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium, the world's largest lithium mining company with a market capitalization of $19 billion, has predicted that lithium prices will continue to rally as lithium production struggles to keep up with massive demand for EVs. The Chinese company has some decent street cred--after all, it counts leading EV automakers such as Tesla Inc. and BMW (OTCPK:BMWYY) among its customers.
Source:Mining.com
Investors who entered the lithium space a few years ago jumped the gun then, partly out of poorly timed over-enthusiasm, and partly because the logic ran like this: Any new lithium mines that could contribute to the EV battery onslaught would take years to bring online, from scratch--so best to get started in advance.
Now, with the EV boom squarely in the front view mirror and with battery gigafactories promising to be heavy-hitting purchasers, we can finally see the much-anticipated supply crunch forming.
Battery-grade lithium carbonate prices started to buck a three-year downturn during the second half of 2020 thanks to robust EV demand roaring back from the coronavirus. Lithium carbonate prices have gained 91% so far in 2021.
That's mainly thanks to the postponement of lithium project expansions in South America--due to previous demand forecasts as well as the impact of the pandemic. This is expected to slow down the short-term supply of the lithium compound and improve pricing, according to Ganfeng.
Here are some top stocks to play the ongoing lithium and EV boom.
#1. Albemarle Corp.
Market Cap: $32.3B
YTD Returns: 85.3%
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based lithium producer that develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide.
The company's Lithium segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, and lithium specialties for use in lithium batteries for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, high-performance greases, thermoplastic elastomers for car tires, rubber soles, plastic bottles, catalysts for chemical reactions, organic synthesis processes and other markets.
In its latest earnings report, ALB posted Q3 revenue of $830.6M (+11.2% Y/Y), beating the Wall Street consensus by $66.01M; Non-GAAP EPS of $1.05 beat by $0.28 while adjusted EBITDA clocked in at $217.6 million.
About a week ago, Degas Wright, founder and CEO of Decatur Capital, told CNBC that ALB shares Albemarle should benefit from the euphoria over electric vehicles.
#2. Lithium Americas Corp.
Market Cap: $4.0B
YTD Returns: 162.3%
Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC)--formerly Western Lithium USA Corporation--is a Canadian lithium exploration company that operates as a resource company in the United States. LAC owns interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz Project located in Jujuy province of Argentina and Thacker Pass project located in northwestern Nevada.
In March, investment advisory B. Riley initiated coverage of LAC stock with a Buy rating and a price target of $25, noting that the company was nearing completion of a major lithium project and developing another long-term resource in the United States. LAC shares have been rallying after the company successfully expanded the mineral resource estimate at its Thacker Pass project in Nevada to 13.7M metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent and raising planned Phase 1 capacity to target 40K mt/year of lithium carbonate.
Lithium Americas has also been expanding inorganically, and has agreed to buy Millennial Lithium for ~US$400M in cash and stock. The company says the addition of Millennial's Pastos Grandes lithium brine project in Argentina provides an attractive regional growth opportunity in proximity to its Caucharí-Olaroz project, with the potential to extract significant synergies.
#3. Livent Corp.
Market Cap: $4.8B
YTD Returns: 58.2%
Pennsylvania-based Livent Corporation (NYSE:LTHM) is one of the newest companies in the lithium space having been incorporated in 2018. Livent manufactures and sells performance lithium compounds primarily used in lithium-based batteries, specialty polymers, and chemical synthesis applications in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific.
Last month, Citi upgraded LTHM to Buy from Neutral, saying the company should benefit from improved pricing and planned capacity expansions in 2022 and 2023.
Citi sees the lithium sector continuing to benefit from tight fundamentals thanks to robust demand from electric vehicles while supply is struggling to keep pace.
Meanwhile, analysts at Piper Sandler recently initiated Livent with an Overweight rating citing an upbeat outlook for the battery chemistry and materials sector.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
PROG on another tear today.
Yep, just beat it. LAC high at the moment $36.59
New highs LAC
What "counts" is the worlds' perception of things (formulated thru articles like that).
Yes along with their fingers into the reserves elsewhere, and I consider that a big problem. Also look what China is doing with the chip market and Taiwan, another massive control of the "New World A-Comin".
I fully agree. This will be a big problem in the future and China already has I'm afraid an irreversible control over it.
This was posted on a couple of other boards regarding EV's and lithium, not sure if you've seen it.
An article from Forbes recently:
Lithium Shortage May Stall Electric Car Revolution And Embed China’s Lead: Report
Neil Winton Senior Contributor
Transportation
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2021/11/14/lithium-shortage-may-stall-electric-car-revolution-and-embed-chinas-lead-report/?sh=5c31cc8646ef
The electric car revolution will stall in the West if supplies of crucial battery elements like lithium fail to keep up with the forecast huge increase in demand. This will drive battery prices higher, decimate profit margins, and the coveted $100 per kWh battery, which would have signaled the arrival of affordable green vehicles, will remain on the launch pad.
“Western weaknesses in lithium-ion supply chains will slow electric vehicle adoption and demonstrate China’s dominance of the EV (electric vehicle) market,” according to a report from GlobalData. a leading data and analytics company.
This kind of pressure might also delay Tesla’s TSLA +4.1% long promised “affordable” $25,000 electric car.
The report said EV output is set to “skyrocket” to 12.76 million cars a year by 2026, with over half coming from China.
“With lithium prices set to rise throughout the next decade, the EV sector in the West will have to face rising battery costs. If they pass costs on to the consumer, EV adoption will likely accelerate at a slower rate than previously expected,” the report said.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that the growth in EVs could see lithium demand increase by over 40 times by 2030, according to the International Lithium Association (ILiA) . Last year lithium demand was about 320,000 tonnes and is expected to hit 1 million by 2025 and 3 million by 2030, according to Reuters.
Earlier this month, LMC Automotive predicted European EV sales would rise from 1.2 million in 2021 to 3.4 million in 2024, 6.1 million in 2027 and 10.5 million in 2030.
U.S. investment newsletter Energy & Capital’s Luke Sweeney put it this way, as world leaders rush to implement green energy promises.
“They (the leaders) are ignoring the trillion-ton elephant in the room. Carbon-free power and gasoline-free transportation cannot exist without mining an absurd amount of lithium. Right now, production is not even close to keeping up. We simply aren’t pulling enough lithium out of the ground to match the projected demand,” Sweeney said.
Daniel Clarke, Thematic analyst at GlobalData, said China held 80.5% of global lithium-ion battery capacity in 2020, and even with the U.S. and EU’s best efforts will still dominate by 2026 with an expected 61.4% share.
“The rising price of lithium demonstrates what many in the industry have warned about for some time: the growing divergence between supply and demand for lithium. Ultimately, this will lead to an increase in the price of EVs, as automakers pass the cost on to the consumer,” Clarke said.
The average price of lithium carbonate has been erratic - halving before doubling again, and this has made investors wary of investing in new capacity.
“Batteries are already the most expensive part of an EV. Cell costs would need to be notably below $100 per kilowatt hour for mainstream production to take off, but this isn’t looking likely. Any increases in cost will be a blow to the decarbonization agenda of advanced economies, as well as lead to a deceleration in the decarbonization of the automotive industry,” Clarke said in the report.
In an online interview, I asked Clarke if the outlook for the price of lithium meant LMC Automotive’s European EV sales targets were still possible.
"It very much depends on automakers. Estimates see the rising cost of lithium hitting the EV market sometime between 2022 and 2024. (manufacturers) will have to decide on whether to absorb the cost or pass it onto the consumer. The market will become more competitive as a result. It is very possible that the (manufacturers) with the deepest pockets, such as Toyota, are able to take market share by absorbing the cost of the battery and undercutting their competitors, who would be forced to increase their prices. Tesla, whose EV market is focused on premium cars, would likely not be too badly affected, but it will make them potentially reconsider their plans for a low-cost $25,000 Tesla Model 2."
Clarke said lithium represents about 7% of the total cost of a battery but you also need Graphite, Manganese, Nickel, Cobalt. The latter two prices are also precarious because of supply issues.
“Cobalt is used in the cathode, and the cathode is the most expensive part of a battery, which is in turn the most expensive part of an EV. However, necessity is the mother of invention, and new battery chemistries are being developed all around the world."
Is the 100 kWh battery now in jeopardy?
"It is hard to say. Recent reports have the price per kWh at $105 but it is expected to rise next year as a result of the aforementioned forces at play. Lithium shortages will get worse next year and may continue into the middle of the decade. It is important to remember that building a lithium mine takes seven years and many automakers want high-quality batteries. Mines are huge investments, much like chip fabrication plants, there isn't a lot of room for just increasing capacity… most of these mines will be working around the clock anyway," Clarke said.
According to the ILiA, natural lithium minerals are relatively abundant and found in many countries. Currently there are large industrial operators in Australia, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, China, Brazil, Zimbabwe and Portugal, that produce lithium raw materials at significant scale, although this number is set to rise as lithium production increases to meet demand. Experts say there are bottlenecks in the conversion processes needed to produce usable lithium. Plants take years to reach full production and this, combined with accelerating demand, means supplies will remain tight and prices high.
The big car and SUV makers are scrambling to set up deals to guarantee supplies. Tesla has a deal with Piedmont Lithium of North Carolina. General Motors GM -0.6% is investing in a Californian project. Companies like Stellantis, Renault and BMW are known to be investing in projects which seek to speed up, and clean up, the conversion process. It’s safe to assume that every single auto operative is doing the same thing.
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Neil Winton
As a former European Automotive correspondent for Reuters, I’ve a spent a few years writing about the industry. I will penetrate the corporate hype and bluster and find out... Read More
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2021/11/14/lithium-shortage-may-stall-electric-car-revolution-and-embed-chinas-lead-report/?sh=5c31cc8646ef
On the subject of Supply and Demand of lithium.
An article from the Forbes recently:
Lithium Shortage May Stall Electric Car Revolution And Embed China’s Lead: Report
Neil Winton Senior Contributor
Transportation
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2021/11/14/lithium-shortage-may-stall-electric-car-revolution-and-embed-chinas-lead-report/?sh=5c31cc8646ef
The electric car revolution will stall in the West if supplies of crucial battery elements like lithium fail to keep up with the forecast huge increase in demand. This will drive battery prices higher, decimate profit margins, and the coveted $100 per kWh battery, which would have signaled the arrival of affordable green vehicles, will remain on the launch pad.
“Western weaknesses in lithium-ion supply chains will slow electric vehicle adoption and demonstrate China’s dominance of the EV (electric vehicle) market,” according to a report from GlobalData. a leading data and analytics company.
This kind of pressure might also delay Tesla’s TSLA +4.1% long promised “affordable” $25,000 electric car.
The report said EV output is set to “skyrocket” to 12.76 million cars a year by 2026, with over half coming from China.
“With lithium prices set to rise throughout the next decade, the EV sector in the West will have to face rising battery costs. If they pass costs on to the consumer, EV adoption will likely accelerate at a slower rate than previously expected,” the report said.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that the growth in EVs could see lithium demand increase by over 40 times by 2030, according to the International Lithium Association (ILiA) . Last year lithium demand was about 320,000 tonnes and is expected to hit 1 million by 2025 and 3 million by 2030, according to Reuters.
Earlier this month, LMC Automotive predicted European EV sales would rise from 1.2 million in 2021 to 3.4 million in 2024, 6.1 million in 2027 and 10.5 million in 2030.
U.S. investment newsletter Energy & Capital’s Luke Sweeney put it this way, as world leaders rush to implement green energy promises.
“They (the leaders) are ignoring the trillion-ton elephant in the room. Carbon-free power and gasoline-free transportation cannot exist without mining an absurd amount of lithium. Right now, production is not even close to keeping up. We simply aren’t pulling enough lithium out of the ground to match the projected demand,” Sweeney said.
Daniel Clarke, Thematic analyst at GlobalData, said China held 80.5% of global lithium-ion battery capacity in 2020, and even with the U.S. and EU’s best efforts will still dominate by 2026 with an expected 61.4% share.
“The rising price of lithium demonstrates what many in the industry have warned about for some time: the growing divergence between supply and demand for lithium. Ultimately, this will lead to an increase in the price of EVs, as automakers pass the cost on to the consumer,” Clarke said.
The average price of lithium carbonate has been erratic - halving before doubling again, and this has made investors wary of investing in new capacity.
“Batteries are already the most expensive part of an EV. Cell costs would need to be notably below $100 per kilowatt hour for mainstream production to take off, but this isn’t looking likely. Any increases in cost will be a blow to the decarbonization agenda of advanced economies, as well as lead to a deceleration in the decarbonization of the automotive industry,” Clarke said in the report.
In an online interview, I asked Clarke if the outlook for the price of lithium meant LMC Automotive’s European EV sales targets were still possible.
"It very much depends on automakers. Estimates see the rising cost of lithium hitting the EV market sometime between 2022 and 2024. (manufacturers) will have to decide on whether to absorb the cost or pass it onto the consumer. The market will become more competitive as a result. It is very possible that the (manufacturers) with the deepest pockets, such as Toyota, are able to take market share by absorbing the cost of the battery and undercutting their competitors, who would be forced to increase their prices. Tesla, whose EV market is focused on premium cars, would likely not be too badly affected, but it will make them potentially reconsider their plans for a low-cost $25,000 Tesla Model 2."
Clarke said lithium represents about 7% of the total cost of a battery but you also need Graphite, Manganese, Nickel, Cobalt. The latter two prices are also precarious because of supply issues.
“Cobalt is used in the cathode, and the cathode is the most expensive part of a battery, which is in turn the most expensive part of an EV. However, necessity is the mother of invention, and new battery chemistries are being developed all around the world."
Is the 100 kWh battery now in jeopardy?
"It is hard to say. Recent reports have the price per kWh at $105 but it is expected to rise next year as a result of the aforementioned forces at play. Lithium shortages will get worse next year and may continue into the middle of the decade. It is important to remember that building a lithium mine takes seven years and many automakers want high-quality batteries. Mines are huge investments, much like chip fabrication plants, there isn't a lot of room for just increasing capacity… most of these mines will be working around the clock anyway," Clarke said.
According to the ILiA, natural lithium minerals are relatively abundant and found in many countries. Currently there are large industrial operators in Australia, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, China, Brazil, Zimbabwe and Portugal, that produce lithium raw materials at significant scale, although this number is set to rise as lithium production increases to meet demand. Experts say there are bottlenecks in the conversion processes needed to produce usable lithium. Plants take years to reach full production and this, combined with accelerating demand, means supplies will remain tight and prices high.
The big car and SUV makers are scrambling to set up deals to guarantee supplies. Tesla has a deal with Piedmont Lithium of North Carolina. General Motors GM -0.6% is investing in a Californian project. Companies like Stellantis, Renault and BMW are known to be investing in projects which seek to speed up, and clean up, the conversion process. It’s safe to assume that every single auto operative is doing the same thing.
Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website.
Neil Winton
As a former European Automotive correspondent for Reuters, I’ve a spent a few years writing about the industry. I will penetrate the corporate hype and bluster and find out... Read More
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2021/11/14/lithium-shortage-may-stall-electric-car-revolution-and-embed-chinas-lead-report/?sh=5c31cc8646ef
An article on quantum computing progress. IONQ is working with UMD (IonQ, UMD to Establish First-of-its-Kind Facility to Provide Quantum Computing Access).
https://physicsworld.com/a/physicists-achieve-fault-tolerant-control-of-an-error-corrected-qubit/
19 Nov 2021 Maria Violaris
Photo of the Maryland team's trapped-ion quantum computer on an optical bench in laboratory
Inner workings: The trapped-ion quantum computer used by the Maryland team to demonstrate fault-tolerant control of a single logical qubit. (Courtesy: Laird Egan)
The quantum nature of qubits is a double-edged sword. While it could help quantum computers solve problems that are intractable on classical machines, it is also easily destroyed by noise arising from unintended interactions between qubits and their environment. To resolve this dilemma and create scalable, useful quantum computers, physicists are developing methods of correcting the errors that arise from this noise. Now, for the first time, researchers at the University of Maryland in the US have put one of these methods into practice by demonstrating fault-tolerant control of a single logical qubit – a key step towards fully error-corrected quantum computers.
To understand how this type of error correction works, think of the last time you corrected a typo. In doing so, you performed error correction on classical information. Because the meaning of a word is encoded in lots of letters, it doesn’t matter much if there is a mystake in one letter – you can still identify the intended word. Quantum error correction enables us to spot and correct typos in quamtum infornation in much the same way, by encoding the state of one logical qubit (the quantum word) within many physical qubits (the quantum letters). By performing specialized actions known as stabilizer measurements on these physical qubits, the system can then extract information about any errors that have occurred – crucially, without destroying the quantum information required for the computation. Based on this extracted information, the system can then apply the correct operations, or gates, to the physical qubits so that the overall state of the logical qubit is corrected, like replacing a letter to correct a word.
Error correction alone is not enough to enable scalable quantum computers, however. Spell-check would be counterproductive if it jumbled up other letters in the process of correcting one. Another essential condition for reliable quantum computers is that preparing the logical state, applying logic gates, detecting errors and correcting them must not introduce more errors into the system. In other words, these processes all need to be fault-tolerant, designed so that one error will not spread to cause more errors. This requirement is central to the task of building quantum computers that can solve useful problems.
Reduced error rates
In the latest work, which is published in Nature, researchers led by Laird Egan demonstrated the fault-tolerant control of a single logical qubit – including all the stages of preparation, logic gates and error correction. The qubits in this experiment consisted of ytterbium ions suspended above a radio-frequency Paul trap and controlled with individual laser beams. This is the hardware favoured by the quantum computing start-up IonQ, where Egan and some of his collaborators now work. The advantages of using trapped ions instead of the superconducting qubits favoured by many quantum computing firms include lower error rates and better connectivity between qubits, though there are challenges with scaling the technology.
Photo montage of Maryland team members and their quantum computer
Remote access: The trapped-ion quantum computer (centre) and some of the Maryland team working from home, after setting up their system to run completely remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Courtesy: Laird Egan)
To demonstrate fault-tolerant control, the team used a 13-qubit encoding known as the Bacon–Shor code, with nine physical qubits to encode the logical state and four qubits for error correction. These 13 qubits were arranged in a single chain, with two extra qubits on either side to ensure uniform spacing. With this system, the researchers showed that they could control the states of the logical qubits in a fault-tolerant way and correct any single-qubit errors that occurred. The team also showed that the error rates in the logical qubit were lower than the corresponding error rates when using a non-fault-tolerant protocol.
Steps towards full fault-tolerance
Egan calls the team’s achievement “a really critical building block, and one that shows that we are close to achieving the error threshold where logical qubits can outperform physical qubits”. He adds: “Nobody believes that you will be able to achieve this threshold without fault-tolerant error-correction protocols, and up until this work, no one had yet demonstrated fault-tolerant control of a logical qubit.”
To pass that error threshold, the team’s next goal is to maintain an error-free quantum state over time performing error correction repeatedly. To do this will require mid-circuit error detection, where the ions in the chain are physically moved apart so that some can be measured without affecting the others. “The hard part is when we put the chain back together, we need to make sure that ions did not heat up during their transport”, explains Egan, “and if they did, we need a way to cool them back down without destroying the quantum information”. The team has made progress towards this goal by showing in other work that cooling such ions is possible.
READ MORE
New gate optimization strategy could boost efficiency in trapped-ion quantum computers
The researchers also hope to demonstrate fault-tolerant control between two qubits. To do this, they aim to implement a series of quantum operations known as a logical controlled-NOT gate, which flips the state of the second qubit conditional on the state of the first and is central to many other gates and algorithms. Egan is confident that the vision of fully fault-tolerant quantum control that outperforms physical qubits can be realized in ion traps in the near future. “Ion systems only need modest improvements to their gate fidelity, combined with mid-circuit detection, to really make this work in the next couple of years,” he says.
An article on quantum computing progress. IONQ is working with UMD (IonQ, UMD to Establish First-of-its-Kind Facility to Provide Quantum Computing Access).
https://physicsworld.com/a/physicists-achieve-fault-tolerant-control-of-an-error-corrected-qubit/
19 Nov 2021 Maria Violaris
Photo of the Maryland team's trapped-ion quantum computer on an optical bench in laboratory
Inner workings: The trapped-ion quantum computer used by the Maryland team to demonstrate fault-tolerant control of a single logical qubit. (Courtesy: Laird Egan)
The quantum nature of qubits is a double-edged sword. While it could help quantum computers solve problems that are intractable on classical machines, it is also easily destroyed by noise arising from unintended interactions between qubits and their environment. To resolve this dilemma and create scalable, useful quantum computers, physicists are developing methods of correcting the errors that arise from this noise. Now, for the first time, researchers at the University of Maryland in the US have put one of these methods into practice by demonstrating fault-tolerant control of a single logical qubit – a key step towards fully error-corrected quantum computers.
To understand how this type of error correction works, think of the last time you corrected a typo. In doing so, you performed error correction on classical information. Because the meaning of a word is encoded in lots of letters, it doesn’t matter much if there is a mystake in one letter – you can still identify the intended word. Quantum error correction enables us to spot and correct typos in quamtum infornation in much the same way, by encoding the state of one logical qubit (the quantum word) within many physical qubits (the quantum letters). By performing specialized actions known as stabilizer measurements on these physical qubits, the system can then extract information about any errors that have occurred – crucially, without destroying the quantum information required for the computation. Based on this extracted information, the system can then apply the correct operations, or gates, to the physical qubits so that the overall state of the logical qubit is corrected, like replacing a letter to correct a word.
Error correction alone is not enough to enable scalable quantum computers, however. Spell-check would be counterproductive if it jumbled up other letters in the process of correcting one. Another essential condition for reliable quantum computers is that preparing the logical state, applying logic gates, detecting errors and correcting them must not introduce more errors into the system. In other words, these processes all need to be fault-tolerant, designed so that one error will not spread to cause more errors. This requirement is central to the task of building quantum computers that can solve useful problems.
Reduced error rates
In the latest work, which is published in Nature, researchers led by Laird Egan demonstrated the fault-tolerant control of a single logical qubit – including all the stages of preparation, logic gates and error correction. The qubits in this experiment consisted of ytterbium ions suspended above a radio-frequency Paul trap and controlled with individual laser beams. This is the hardware favoured by the quantum computing start-up IonQ, where Egan and some of his collaborators now work. The advantages of using trapped ions instead of the superconducting qubits favoured by many quantum computing firms include lower error rates and better connectivity between qubits, though there are challenges with scaling the technology.
Photo montage of Maryland team members and their quantum computer
Remote access: The trapped-ion quantum computer (centre) and some of the Maryland team working from home, after setting up their system to run completely remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Courtesy: Laird Egan)
To demonstrate fault-tolerant control, the team used a 13-qubit encoding known as the Bacon–Shor code, with nine physical qubits to encode the logical state and four qubits for error correction. These 13 qubits were arranged in a single chain, with two extra qubits on either side to ensure uniform spacing. With this system, the researchers showed that they could control the states of the logical qubits in a fault-tolerant way and correct any single-qubit errors that occurred. The team also showed that the error rates in the logical qubit were lower than the corresponding error rates when using a non-fault-tolerant protocol.
Steps towards full fault-tolerance
Egan calls the team’s achievement “a really critical building block, and one that shows that we are close to achieving the error threshold where logical qubits can outperform physical qubits”. He adds: “Nobody believes that you will be able to achieve this threshold without fault-tolerant error-correction protocols, and up until this work, no one had yet demonstrated fault-tolerant control of a logical qubit.”
To pass that error threshold, the team’s next goal is to maintain an error-free quantum state over time performing error correction repeatedly. To do this will require mid-circuit error detection, where the ions in the chain are physically moved apart so that some can be measured without affecting the others. “The hard part is when we put the chain back together, we need to make sure that ions did not heat up during their transport”, explains Egan, “and if they did, we need a way to cool them back down without destroying the quantum information”. The team has made progress towards this goal by showing in other work that cooling such ions is possible.
READ MORE
New gate optimization strategy could boost efficiency in trapped-ion quantum computers
The researchers also hope to demonstrate fault-tolerant control between two qubits. To do this, they aim to implement a series of quantum operations known as a logical controlled-NOT gate, which flips the state of the second qubit conditional on the state of the first and is central to many other gates and algorithms. Egan is confident that the vision of fully fault-tolerant quantum control that outperforms physical qubits can be realized in ion traps in the near future. “Ion systems only need modest improvements to their gate fidelity, combined with mid-circuit detection, to really make this work in the next couple of years,” he says.
Those actions are already planned in and accounted for and teams of lawyers make their paydays and politicians get back room pockets padded. Did you expect anything else? The way these things work is always this way to show "concern" and look like the powers to be are doing things about things, but in the end, overall demand, money and greed continue to hold the power to effect. There will be months and longer of this act, delays to the inevitable, there always is. Just like all the congressional hearings throughout yrs (both parties in power at different times) when gas is highest and they act like they're doing something about something and are "concerned", but nothing ever happens and the consumer always pays the price in the long run. That's always been for big oil, and it will be the same for lithium mining in the future.
I don't like the negative impact to the WORLD environment that lithium is creating, but there is nothing that will stand in the way for the future pricing and profits of what's going to be "big lithium". Demand is going to outpace the supply as it is now and we will be as much dependent on lithium as we are to big oil. Lithium miners will be much more profitable and powerful in the near future. That's a fact and nothing you or I can say or do that can stop it.
An article from the Forbes recently:
Lithium Shortage May Stall Electric Car Revolution And Embed China’s Lead: Report
Neil Winton Senior Contributor
Transportation
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2021/11/14/lithium-shortage-may-stall-electric-car-revolution-and-embed-chinas-lead-report/?sh=5c31cc8646ef
The electric car revolution will stall in the West if supplies of crucial battery elements like lithium fail to keep up with the forecast huge increase in demand. This will drive battery prices higher, decimate profit margins, and the coveted $100 per kWh battery, which would have signaled the arrival of affordable green vehicles, will remain on the launch pad.
“Western weaknesses in lithium-ion supply chains will slow electric vehicle adoption and demonstrate China’s dominance of the EV (electric vehicle) market,” according to a report from GlobalData. a leading data and analytics company.
This kind of pressure might also delay Tesla’s TSLA +4.1% long promised “affordable” $25,000 electric car.
The report said EV output is set to “skyrocket” to 12.76 million cars a year by 2026, with over half coming from China.
“With lithium prices set to rise throughout the next decade, the EV sector in the West will have to face rising battery costs. If they pass costs on to the consumer, EV adoption will likely accelerate at a slower rate than previously expected,” the report said.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that the growth in EVs could see lithium demand increase by over 40 times by 2030, according to the International Lithium Association (ILiA) . Last year lithium demand was about 320,000 tonnes and is expected to hit 1 million by 2025 and 3 million by 2030, according to Reuters.
Earlier this month, LMC Automotive predicted European EV sales would rise from 1.2 million in 2021 to 3.4 million in 2024, 6.1 million in 2027 and 10.5 million in 2030.
U.S. investment newsletter Energy & Capital’s Luke Sweeney put it this way, as world leaders rush to implement green energy promises.
“They (the leaders) are ignoring the trillion-ton elephant in the room. Carbon-free power and gasoline-free transportation cannot exist without mining an absurd amount of lithium. Right now, production is not even close to keeping up. We simply aren’t pulling enough lithium out of the ground to match the projected demand,” Sweeney said.
Daniel Clarke, Thematic analyst at GlobalData, said China held 80.5% of global lithium-ion battery capacity in 2020, and even with the U.S. and EU’s best efforts will still dominate by 2026 with an expected 61.4% share.
“The rising price of lithium demonstrates what many in the industry have warned about for some time: the growing divergence between supply and demand for lithium. Ultimately, this will lead to an increase in the price of EVs, as automakers pass the cost on to the consumer,” Clarke said.
The average price of lithium carbonate has been erratic - halving before doubling again, and this has made investors wary of investing in new capacity.
“Batteries are already the most expensive part of an EV. Cell costs would need to be notably below $100 per kilowatt hour for mainstream production to take off, but this isn’t looking likely. Any increases in cost will be a blow to the decarbonization agenda of advanced economies, as well as lead to a deceleration in the decarbonization of the automotive industry,” Clarke said in the report.
In an online interview, I asked Clarke if the outlook for the price of lithium meant LMC Automotive’s European EV sales targets were still possible.
"It very much depends on automakers. Estimates see the rising cost of lithium hitting the EV market sometime between 2022 and 2024. (manufacturers) will have to decide on whether to absorb the cost or pass it onto the consumer. The market will become more competitive as a result. It is very possible that the (manufacturers) with the deepest pockets, such as Toyota, are able to take market share by absorbing the cost of the battery and undercutting their competitors, who would be forced to increase their prices. Tesla, whose EV market is focused on premium cars, would likely not be too badly affected, but it will make them potentially reconsider their plans for a low-cost $25,000 Tesla Model 2."
Clarke said lithium represents about 7% of the total cost of a battery but you also need Graphite, Manganese, Nickel, Cobalt. The latter two prices are also precarious because of supply issues.
“Cobalt is used in the cathode, and the cathode is the most expensive part of a battery, which is in turn the most expensive part of an EV. However, necessity is the mother of invention, and new battery chemistries are being developed all around the world."
Is the 100 kWh battery now in jeopardy?
"It is hard to say. Recent reports have the price per kWh at $105 but it is expected to rise next year as a result of the aforementioned forces at play. Lithium shortages will get worse next year and may continue into the middle of the decade. It is important to remember that building a lithium mine takes seven years and many automakers want high-quality batteries. Mines are huge investments, much like chip fabrication plants, there isn't a lot of room for just increasing capacity… most of these mines will be working around the clock anyway," Clarke said.
According to the ILiA, natural lithium minerals are relatively abundant and found in many countries. Currently there are large industrial operators in Australia, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, China, Brazil, Zimbabwe and Portugal, that produce lithium raw materials at significant scale, although this number is set to rise as lithium production increases to meet demand. Experts say there are bottlenecks in the conversion processes needed to produce usable lithium. Plants take years to reach full production and this, combined with accelerating demand, means supplies will remain tight and prices high.
The big car and SUV makers are scrambling to set up deals to guarantee supplies. Tesla has a deal with Piedmont Lithium of North Carolina. General Motors GM -0.6% is investing in a Californian project. Companies like Stellantis, Renault and BMW are known to be investing in projects which seek to speed up, and clean up, the conversion process. It’s safe to assume that every single auto operative is doing the same thing.
Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website.
Neil Winton
As a former European Automotive correspondent for Reuters, I’ve a spent a few years writing about the industry. I will penetrate the corporate hype and bluster and find out... Read More
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2021/11/14/lithium-shortage-may-stall-electric-car-revolution-and-embed-chinas-lead-report/?sh=5c31cc8646ef
I've been in for a little bit now and I was just puttin around with it all day with some small trades with some of my shares, lucky I was all in before the sudden hit in the last half hr. Still getting a bit of action ah.
That's been known though. NVDA earnings out ah I guess so something going on to hit this, maybe in their guidance it will mention something.
Anybody here now why it happened. High of 33.70 ah.
Not sure what the heck happened IONQ. Some trading group? Short squeeze? ???? I heard something about NVDIA mentioning quantum comp in AI but the posts were going by so fast, it got lost and I had to pay attention to the stock. Still getting action ah.