By Masque @Adobe Stock

Andy Home of Reuters reports that electric vehicles are proving a bumpy ride for battery metals. He writes:

Electric vehicles (EVs) were supposed to supercharge demand for metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt.

Yet prices for all three EV battery inputs have fallen to such bombed-out levels that producers are curtailing output and deferring new projects.

This is partly a problem of oversupply. […]

But it is also a problem of demand.

The transition away from the internal combustion engine has by no means ground to a halt. Global new energy vehicle sales were up by 20% year-on-year in January-August, according to consultancy Rho Motion.

Rather, the mix of vehicles being sold and the evolution of battery chemistry have dramatically changed the metals demand dynamic. […]

Hybrids don’t need the same battery power as a BEV. Adamas calculates that battery pack capacity in a PHEV is a third of that in a BEV, which means a similar-sized reduction in the amount of lithium, nickel and cobalt used per vehicle.

Other metals, however, stand to benefit from the rise of the hybrids. Platinum and palladium, which are used to clean auto exhausts, have been granted an unexpected new lease of life. […]

What’s more, the battery revolution has only just begun. Battery makers are investing heavily in research and development with the goal of developing ever cheaper, more powerful batteries.

Even lithium is at risk of substitution from sodium-ion batteries as CATL and other Chinese companies such as BYD, expand capacity for the new technology.

Sodium-ion batteries could cost up to 20% less than incumbent technologies and can be used for both stationary storage and compact urban EVs, according to the IEA.

They use no lithium but, depending on chemistry, need both nickel and manganese, which foreshadows the potential for more metallic twists in the unpredictable electric vehicle revolution.

Read more here.