*To Remind,
The EV revolution seems to be fast approaching a state of critical mass, which is translating into record-breaking price runs for cathode inputs such as nickel and cobalt and, of course, lithium itself.
Surging demand for battery metals reflects both the exponential rise in EV sales and the build-out of a global battery manufacturing industry, each new Gigafactory representing an extra pull on metal stocks.
A record 286.2 GWh of passenger electric vehicle battery capacity was deployed onto roads globally last year, according to Adamas Intelligence.
That represented a 113% increase on 2020 as new energy vehicle sales continued to grow strongly in China, the world’s largest market, and exploded in Europe.
*In other News,
Mercedes-Benz foresees EV-only production lines within a few years
Mercedes-Benz expects to have factories producing exclusively electric vehicles by the second half of the decade.
The carmaker foresees some of its production lines within factories switching fully to electric even sooner, production chief Joerg Burzer said in an interview with Reuters.
“Building a whole new battery-electric vehicle factory takes time. We have taken another approach,” Burzer said.
“We will certainly have some lines producing only electric vehicles in the next few years… we also see whole factories switching to electric – that is a topic for the second half of the decade.”
The premium carmaker will launch production of its EQE model, revealed last September at the IAA Mobility show, in Bremen later this year, followed by Beijing and Tuscaloosa.
Mercedes is betting on the model, an electric adaptation of the E-class with a peak range of 660 km, to boost EV unit sales as it shifts investment away from internal combustion vehicles and towards electric-only production platforms.
“With the ramp-up of the EQE in Bremen and later in Beijing, we are coming into a segment where we can deliver at far higher volumes,” Burzer said.
Just 2.3% of Mercedes-Benz Cars’ sales last year were battery-electric vehicles, rising to 11% including plug-in hybrids, which have both an engine and a battery.
As of 2025, it expects electric and hybrid electric cars to make up 50% of sales, with all-electric cars expected to account for most of that.
www.mining.com/category/battery-metals
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RIP Tom