Community | September 05, 2009 | 5 comments

'Saudi Arabia of Lithium' To Produce Batteries By 2016

source: http://blogs.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1034936_saudi-arabia-of-lithium-to-produce-batt...

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ras_menelik
Whether you’re concerned about national security or have green motivations as well, you might be eagerly awaiting electric cars and plug-ins in hopes of escaping your reliance on OPEC and foreign oil, but as of late there’s been plenty of coverage suggesting that future battery supply could be limited by control of lithium stores.

“The Saudi Arabia of lithium,” Bolivia, has about 50 percent of the world’s lithium deposits in its salt flats and now plans to produce its own batteries by 2016, reports the BBC, provided the demand is there.

What’s more, Bolivia’s mining minister, Luis Echazu, told the BBC that the South American country has been negotiating directly with Sumitomo and Mitsubishi, among other companies. In any agreement with a company, the Bolivian state will have the majority stake.

Those are among the pieces of information discussed in this week’s episode of Peter Day’s World of Business, on BBC Radio, which over a half-hour report goes into some depth on Bolivia’s plan to capitalize on its vast stores of lithium—necessary to produce the lithium-ion batteries that will permit satisfactory performance, range, and packaging.

The study will examine how plug-in hybrids are recharged and how this will affect marketing of these vehicles

The study will examine how plug-in hybrids are recharged and how this will affect marketing of these vehicles

Lithium-ion batteries are essential for both full electric vehicles (EVs), like the upcoming 2012 Nissan Leaf, or plug-ins like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.
  1. groups:
    Community,   Green,   South America
  2. tags:
    Bolivia
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5 comments // 'Saudi Arabia of Lithium' To Produce Batteries By 2016

  • jh64487
    • 0
      jh64487  

    • bolivia seems to have a fairly bright future ahead.

      and what with it being all evil and socialist it's possible that'll benefit people outside of la paz

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
  • PressCore
    • 0
      PressCore  

    • From the 1968 movie Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid: BOLIVIA ???!!! Yup. No more tin mine payrolls to rob. Now every Fascist Corporation in the World will be eyeing them like they're the Goose that lays the Golden Eggs. And doubtless, will scheme to troll them out of their new found riches too. Fortunately, from what I've read from their own words, they're very wary too after they saw what happened in Chile in 1972 with Pinnochet & ATT. It was on the National Public Radio news on 9/03/2009 that the Chilean Judiciary is only now pursuing the CIA organized minions who committed torture/Murders after the coup they organized to overthrow Salvator Alyende (since Pinnochet was too old and died before he could be charged). HaHaHa. Wouldn't it be a trip if the South Americans & their Cannabis loving traditions began dealing from the top of the deck to Norte Americanos instead of Norte Americanos dealing from the bottom of the deck to them. Aye Aye Aye Aye.....I'm realy glad I learned to speak Spanish now. Besides, the Chevy Volt is shit compared with the 3 all electric cars coming out soon now. (BMW mini Cooper, Nissan, and Renault) The Chinese have resolved to be the #1
      producer and marketer of all electric vehicles. You can bet that when Americans realize they can spend
      $10 a month to commute to work with an all electric vehicle, vs $100 a month with gasoline powered cars, the consumers themselves will turn the economy around. Massive proliferation of all electric cars will
      bring the USA out of it's Recession, especialy when
      the S.Korean scientists' invention of incorporating nano materials into lithium ion storage batteries becomes conventional, and their range is 1300 miles vs the current 130 on an overnight charge.There's a news article on Current.com right now about how the hybrid cars use rare earth materials destined to run out soon. They're sure a day late and a dollar short. Like what GM did to the EV 1 in 1997, just another dud fad to satisfy BIG OIL which has been turning the World upside down for 150 years. Nicolas Tesla didn't have to be Nostradamus when he wrote in 1900 that all the nations of the World would exhaust their Capital eventualy if they mindlessly fed it's Monopoly. He wasn't Einstein either. He simply had common sense. Sometimes that's a rarer commodity than even lithium. " Waste in haste, want in leisure " One of the beautiful things about all electric cars is that they're so ultra quiet there will have to be proximity detectors
      built into them to prevent the roadkill from becomeing a public safety hazzard. So we'll get affordable transportation and more respect for the animals' habitats in the bargain.

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  

    • batteries are pretty straight forward to produce though. it makes economic sense because it reduces trnsport costs enough to make it worth building them there rather than shipping the lithium to China. I'm surprised it hasn't been done before now.

    • 2 years ago
  • boywhocould
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