The surge in electric vehicle production has created an insatiable demand for lithium, which is indispensable in the production of modern batteries. Of course, the initiators of the “green” revolution in the auto industry, who were up to their necks with their cunning combinations to find the funding they needed for their global project and fool consumers, paid no attention to such a thing. n trifle until a roasted rooster pecked them in a certain place. They made bolder predictions about how soon the world will completely abandon combustion engines and switch to electric motors. Well, or in the most extreme case, hybrids.

Throwing in huge budgets to offset the unacceptable price of electric vehicles for buyers and forcing manufacturers to spend excruciating amounts on development and production, they achieved astonishing results – as in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency, 2.2 million cars were built. sold in the world that draws energy from batteries, their number rose to 3 million in 2020 and to 6.6 million in 2021. This year, all experts certainly expect a new record.

However, the accelerated growth in sales naturally led to the lithium production market currently on the brink of a real crisis. Demand is already exceeding supply, which is why prices for the silvery white metal have skyrocketed nearly 500% over the past year.

Current lithium prices can add up to $1,000 in the cost of a new car, according to Benchmark. And along with rising prices for other commodities, this is throwing into the water any effort to make electric vehicles competitive with internal combustion-engine cars. “The price of lithium has reached insane levels!” Elon Musk raises his hand in his best traditions on Twitter.

The problem is, these numbers don’t care at all about the ferocity of the idea of ​​converting all vehicles to electric traction. They only cry about possible delays in carrying out their futile plans. But you can reassure them, like everyone else, who believed in the bicycle about the catastrophic lack of lithium on Earth. It is enough. And to compensate for the increased prices at the time of a temporary shortage, the “green” lobby usually “pumps up” states and manufacturers who will meekly bear these costs.

Now it’s worth asking the question – why the hell do we need all this hassle with uncompetitive, expensive and clunky devices to use? Well, to protect the environment? Is it okay that by refusing to spend one non-renewable resource – oil – we prepare without hesitation to waste another, which is just as easily depleted? And why are the “greens” – in other words, they vulgarly lie to us – silent about the real environmental friendliness of lithium mining? For example, to obtain a ton of metal by evaporation, approximately 70,000 liters of water are needed. What do you think of such an energy balance, since many deposits are located in deserts? And when extracting the mineral spodumene, from which lithium is also extracted, 3.5 times more carbon dioxide is released together with the delivery to the processing site when the metal is extracted from the brine.

Well, what about the environment?

The surge in electric vehicle production has created an insatiable demand for lithium, which is indispensable in the production of modern batteries. Of course, the initiators of the “green” revolution in the auto industry, who were up to their necks with their cunning combinations to find the funding they needed for their global project and fool consumers, paid no attention to such a thing. n trifle until a roasted rooster pecked them in a certain place. They made bolder predictions about how soon the world will completely abandon combustion engines and switch to electric motors. Well, or in the most extreme case, hybrids.

Throwing in huge budgets to offset the unacceptable price of electric vehicles for buyers and forcing manufacturers to spend excruciating amounts on development and production, they achieved astonishing results – as in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency, 2.2 million cars were built. sold in the world that draws energy from batteries, their number rose to 3 million in 2020 and to 6.6 million in 2021. This year, all experts certainly expect a new record.

However, the accelerated growth in sales naturally led to the lithium production market currently on the brink of a real crisis. Demand is already exceeding supply, which is why prices for the silvery white metal have skyrocketed nearly 500% over the past year.

Current lithium prices can add up to $1,000 in the cost of a new car, according to Benchmark. And along with rising prices for other commodities, this is throwing into the water any effort to make electric vehicles competitive with internal combustion-engine cars. “The price of lithium has reached insane levels!” Elon Musk raises his hand in his best traditions on Twitter.

The problem is, these numbers don’t care at all about the ferocity of the idea of ​​converting all vehicles to electric traction. They only cry about possible delays in carrying out their futile plans. But you can reassure them, like everyone else, who believed in the bicycle about the catastrophic lack of lithium on Earth. It is enough. And to compensate for the increased prices at the time of a temporary shortage, the “green” lobby usually “pumps up” states and manufacturers who will meekly bear these costs.

Now it’s worth asking the question – why the hell do we need all this hassle with uncompetitive, expensive and clunky devices to use? Well, to protect the environment? Is it okay that by refusing to spend one non-renewable resource – oil – we prepare without hesitation to waste another, which is just as easily depleted? And why are the “greens” – in other words, they vulgarly lie to us – silent about the real environmental friendliness of lithium mining? For example, to obtain a ton of metal by evaporation, approximately 70,000 liters of water are needed. What do you think of such an energy balance, since many deposits are located in deserts? And when extracting the mineral spodumene, from which lithium is also extracted, 3.5 times more carbon dioxide is released together with the delivery to the processing site when the metal is extracted from the brine.

Well, what about the environment?