However, the consistent increase in demand is militated against by the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus, the looming economic downturn, and the collapse of oil prices, making the future of EV sales uncertain<\/strong>. \u00a0These are additional strains on supply chains.<\/p>\n Back in February Audi temporarily\u00a0halted the production<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0of its electric SUV<\/strong> the e-tron, citing<\/strong> \u2018battery supply bottlenecks\u2019. It reduced its production to 4,100 EV<\/strong>, some 1,600 short<\/strong> of its 2020 target<\/strong>. This is not an isolated case.<\/p>\n Jaguar Land Rover is\u00a0pausing the production<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0of its I-Pace electric SUV as is Mercedes of its\u00a0EQC<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0due to the unavailability of certain key ingredients for batteries \u2013 including lithium and cobalt. Audi and Jaguar both source their batteries from a Polish factory owned by South Korean battery giant LG Chem. Despite an upstream\u00a0oversupply<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0today, we are now seeing how a crimp in any part of the supply chain can impact the finished product.<\/p>\n Global electrical vehicle adoption is accelerating at breakneck speeds: world\u00a0EV production is expected to top\u00a04 million cars<\/strong>\u00a0this year barred the corona slowdown, reaching 12 million in 2025.\u00a0Deloitte\u00a0<\/strong>projected that 2022 will be a tipping point for EV costs<\/strong>, making them cost competitive with their internal combustion engine (ICE)<\/strong> counterparts.<\/p>\n The EV battery supply chain faces a number of obstacles including high costs and environmental concerns associated with the extraction and processing of key metals. Today\u2019s\u00a0low prices<\/u><\/strong>, which reflect an overestimation of short-term demand, will also hurt investment in future exploration and production projects. We could be witnessing the beginning of\u00a0structural undersupply<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0of key battery materials, which will have a significant impact on EV manufacturing.<\/p>\n Cobalt mining, for instance, is concentrated in one country \u2014 the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)<\/strong> \u2014 responsible for\u00a065% of global supply<\/u><\/strong>.\u00a0The DRC is one of the world\u2019s least developed countries and has very limited transparency in the cobalt value chain.\u00a0Multiple reports<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0detail the hazards of the DRC\u2019s mining industry, including severe human rights abuses, dangerous working conditions, forced labor, and\u00a0child labor<\/strong>.<\/u>\u00a0Yet demand for this element may reach as much as\u00a0430,000 tons<\/strong>\u00a0in the next decade, a 1.6 fold increase compared to today\u2019s numbers.<\/p>\n Current trends suggest a shortage of raw cobalt in the future: the current capacity to mine will not be able to meet growing demand. According to an\u00a0MIT study<\/u><\/strong>, demand for the metal [$1 – $3 per oz.] is only expected to increase while supply would not shift substantially.\u00a0MIT\u2019s Olivetti Group<\/strong>\u00a0calculated only a marginal increase in supply: from 149,000 tons<\/strong> in 2017 to 160,000 tons<\/strong> in 2023. This could lead to unsustainable price spikes, with severe implications for the green economy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Lithium, on the other hand, does not face mining shortages. Rising prices of the core battery material caused a lithium rush in Australia, Argentina, and Chile. However, a global decrease in demand for EVs due to a weak automotive market and a reduction of sales in China have resulted in a slower pace in mining and plant construction. Suppliers must also address ethical sourcing considerations as well, as numerous communities across the globe challenge\u00a0lithium mining operatio<\/u>ns.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lithium-ion batteries are an essential part of our everyday lives: they power our phones, laptops, tablets, and electric vehicles (EVs). Demand for lithium in the form of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide \u2013 key ingredients in these batteries \u2013 are rising rapidly: up almost 20% in 2019. Prices\u00a0doubled\u00a0between 2016 and 2018 in anticipation of increased […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51,53,157],"tags":[53114,54965,50991,52259,1825,69537,69535,53145,66104,68948,52928,67233,21378,52931,69534,69536],"views":243,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111106"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111110,"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111106\/revisions\/111110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/ureticiler-elektrikli-araclara-pil-tedarik-etmekte-zorlaniyorlar.jpg\")
Global EV sales<\/strong> broke 1.2 million<\/strong> units in 2017 and grew to more than 2 million<\/strong> units in 2018: an\u00a0increase of 63%<\/strong><\/u>\u00a0on a year-on-year basis. That may only equal a penetration rate of 2.2%<\/strong> compared to all light duty vehicles worldwide, but with a compound annual growth rate CAGR<\/strong> of 59%<\/strong>, we could see over 70%<\/strong> penetration by 2050<\/strong>.<\/p>\nThe Rising Consensus of EV adoption<\/strong><\/h2>\n