If the battery is the key to an EV future, China's got a lock on it
Here's just how much the Chinese dominate in mining, production and research
Stephen Williams
The race to build a better (translation: cheaper) battery for the soon-to-come wave of electric cars has barely begun. But The New York Times has already declared a winner.
In a thoroughly researched article this week in the Times, called “Can the world make an electric car battery without China?,” the reporters conclude that the Chinese have already captured the prize. They are “so far ahead mining rare minerals, training engineers and building huge factories that the rest of the world may take decades to catch up.”
Bold predictions, but reporters Keith Bradshaw and Agnes Chang take pains to back them up, by detailing China’s super ambitious chain of production, from taking raw materials out of the earth to actually building the vehicles that use the lithium ion batteries.
Theirs is a scenario focusing on supply controls — mining ingredients such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, and more — that is likely to allow the Chinese a dominant position in the battery chase. And while Western countries are playing catch-up to source these materials, they have balked at investing “into countries with unstable governments or poor labor practices. And they have been slow to ramp up their own production,” the story goes on to say.
https://www.autoblog.com/amp/2023/05/16/if-the-battery-is-the-key-to-an-ev-future-chinas-got-a-lock-on-it/?mc_cid=6b3759f437&mc_eid=0b1369f9f8
