The competition for EV battery metals like copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt is intensifying as automakers’ demand for them rises more and more every day, which is an excellent sign for these metals futures.
Automakers are investing directly in the mining sector to secure future supplies of battery inputs.
For example, General Motors recently invested $650m in Lithium Americas to fund the Thacker Pass project in Nevada.
This is to get exclusive rights to 40,000 tonnes per year of lithium from a domestic mine.
Another metal that is being used a lot in EVs currently is nickel, although some have suggested a shift away from that metal into a more abundant resource like iron.
Elon Musk has said that Teslas batteries may eventually be up to ⅔ iron-based in the future with lower percentages of nickel in them.
These Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries would be good for copper as they require 50% more copper than the current nickel-based batteries.
These metals will continue to have high volatility until manufacturers figure out what works best for these EV batteries while also considering which ones are most abundant.
Either way, a scrap yard like ours will be well positioned for the electric vehicle future.
