Something To Chew On For All/ ELEMENTS COBALT/GRAPHITE/ COBALT USE SCENARIO/ ELECTRIC CAR/COBALT-GRAPHITE/ HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / January 29, 2019 / The electric vehicle (EV) market has been nothing short of explosive.
For 2018, EV sales came in at 361,307, reports Inside EVs. That's up 81% year over year.
However, the ''EV boom'' has just gotten under way.
Total SA's chief energy economist believes electric cars could make up 15% to 30% of global new vehicle sales by 2030, as noted by Bloomberg.
The International Energy Agency doubled its 2030 forecast from 23 million to 58 million.
Statoil ADA believes EVs could account for 30% of new car sales by 2030. BHP Billiton believes there will be 140 million electric vehicles on the road by 2035.
Automakers are moving aggressively to develop electric cars as governments in China, India, and Europe all move to ban gas and diesel engines.
General Motors announced plans to go 100% electric.
Volkswagen wants to build an electric version of each of its 300 auto models by 2030.
Even Volvo and the Jaguar Land rover have said that their entire fleets of vehicles will be electric or hybrid-electric by 2019 and 2020, respectively.
However, one of the most critical components has been in short supply - cobalt.
Right now, the EV market uses 42% of global cobalt production, which is crucial for lithium-ion batteries.
The other 58% is used for military gear, as well as every consumer product that enters the market, including cell phones, tablets, laptops, cameras, and really anything that requires a charge, will require cobalt.
As you can imagine, demand is skyrocketing.
Unfortunately, supply isn't. In fact, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, production has fallen, and supply could be slower than growth demand thanks in part because most global production occurs in the dangerous Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Unfortunately for the EV market,
the DRC is estimated to have 3.4 million tons of cobalt, around half of the world's resources, according to the USGS.
That leaves EV makers with quite a predicament considering there are hardly any pure cobalt mines.
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