What You Need To Know About The Supply, Demand, Economics Of Lithium And Vanadium In Electric Vehicles

As some of the excitement around rare earth elements seems to have abated since the heady highs of fall 2009, we decided to re-visit this very small but intriguing sector of the market with an expert in Clean Technology/Alternative Energy, Dr. Jon Hykawy of Byron Capital Markets. Lithium, in the form of Li-ion batteries, is one uncommon "electric" metal that is likely to be a beneficiary of growth in electric vehicle demand as the need for higher energy density to extend the range for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and full battery electric vehicles necessitates the switch away from NiMH batteries which are used almost exclusively in today's hybrid electric vehicles. One of the several drivers that could have a significant impact on vanadium demand in coming years is the use of lithium vanadium phosphate or fluorophosphate cathodes and lithium vanadium oxide anodes in rechargeable lithium batteries. These batteries exhibit greatly improved safety compared to the more generic lithium cobalt oxide-type cathodes seen in cellular telephone or laptop batteries, as well as providing higher operating voltages and higher rates of energy storage. His current area of focus is the Lithium sector, ranging from availability and production to Lithium battery technology. He has extensive experience in the solar, wind, and battery industries, conducting significant research in the areas of rechargeable batteries, ranging from rechargeable alkaline to Lithium-ion to flow batteries. Battery demand was essentially zero in the mid-90's and reached nearly 30,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate (one tonne of lithium metal is equivalent to 5.3 tonnes of lithium carbonate) in 2008.