Saturday, July 29, 2017

Car industry revolution fuels Western Australia’s lithium boom

Electric cars are driving rapid mining investment in WA, with the state supplying most of the lithium needed to manufacture batteries worldwide.

Car makers’ EV targets

By 2019:
Volvo to phase out internal combustion cars
By 2020:
Volvo plans to develop an affordable EV
Tesla pledges to build 1 million EVs
Nissan predicts EVs will account for 20pc of sales in Europe
Ford forecasts up to 20pc of Chinese market will be EVs
By 2025:
Volkswagon to target 1 million EV sales
Mercedes predicts up to 25pc of its global sales will be EVs

Most electric vehicles (EVs) use lithium-ion batteries, the same technology which powers smartphones, tablets and laptops.

As car makers around the globe race to meet new EV targets, demand for batteries has driven lithium exports from WA as the state now produces more than half of the world’s supply.

Global leaders have been behind the push, with new European emissions legislation forcing car markers to increase their targets and France recently announcing it wanted to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040.

It joins similar targets set by India (2030) and Norway (2025).

The British Government is also set to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2040 as part of a plan to clean up air pollution.

Source: Car industry revolution fuels Western Australia’s lithium boom – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)


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