DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ 2022 was the year automakers figured out how to make electric cars really work
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It was the year the industry (and other stakeholders) figured out how to make electric cars actually work. Here's a look at what made 2022 so important for the EV space — and why 2023 and beyond will likely be even more significant. Momentum this year showed the EV space just what it needed in terms of charging. But in 2022, EVs accounted for 5% of US new-car sales — what some called a tipping point. But the legacy auto companies weren't exempt from some of these challenges, and some of those problems trickled down to customers.

Republican leaders had promised voters during the election they would cut the mining permit review timeline in half and boost domestic EV mining, rather than seek more supply overseas. Westerman and other Republicans will be partially stymied by Republicans' failure to wrest control of the U.S. Senate from Democrats. With their newfound control, Republicans could threaten to withhold funding from agencies perceived as taking too long to approve mines. The Resolution project is opposed by Representative Raúl Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who will relinquish his chairmanship of the House Natural Resources Committee to Westerman. Republicans say that expanding such deals to other countries is not a priority for the new Congress.

President Joe Biden last week doled out $2.8 billion to miners developing new U.S. sources of lithium, nickel, copper and other EV minerals, as well as battery parts manufacturers and recyclers. Those grants followed August's Inflation Reduction Act, which links EV tax credits to minerals extracted domestically or from 20 allies. "People have a misconception about how quickly we can get mines up and running given the U.S. permitting process," said Megan O'Connor, Nth Cycle's CEO. "Hopefully, they'll give us some help and fast track some of the permitting process," said Kent Masters, Albemarle's CEO. The yawning divide between America and China's approaches to funding the EV supply chain is now a top concern for many policymakers and their advisers in the nation's capital.

☆ Inside the only lithium producer in the U.S., which provides critical mineral used in batteries by Tesla, EV makers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Pippa Stevens | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

The town's mining roots are still on display, but the action has shifted to the country's largest lithium brine operation 45 minutes away. Specialty chemicals company Albemarle acquired the site in 2015 from Foot Mineral Company, and has owned it ever since. Under the International Energy Agency's most ambitious climate scenario, lithium supply will have to grow 40-fold by 2040 from today's levels. The U.S. used to be a leader in lithium production, but it's since ceded that position to foreign nations, including China. Albemarle's Silver Peak lithium plant spans 13,000 acres.

☆ Here's how the $360 billion electric car battery market will impact the future of EVs — and how affordable they are for car-buyers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

There's also money to be made: The EV battery market could hit $360 billion by 2030, according to McKinsey. At Insider, we've looked at white-hot EV battery technologies that give automakers the EV performance they need at the price their customers want. It just led a $400 million investment into the little-known EV battery startup that could make it work. Giants like Tesla, GM, and Ford are going to be desperate for EV materials in the next decade. The soon-to-be $339 billion battery industry is on a hiring tear to power the shift to electric cars.

Search resuls for: "Lithium Americas"

5 mentions found