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Warren Buffett And Elon Musk To Spark A Lithium Boom
Oilprice.com ^ | 28-07-2015 | Dave

Posted on 07/28/2015 6:46:18 PM PDT by bananaman22

The age of electrification across the transportation sector, the solar panel revolution, and Tesla’s battery gigafactory are igniting a battle for the cheapest battery. That will transform lithium into a boom-time mineral and the hottest commodity on the energy investor’s radar.

It has been easy to take lithium for granted. This wonder mineral is the backbone of our everyday lives, popping up in everything from the glass in our windows to our mountains of electronics.

And while investors have long appreciated the steady rise in demand for this preferred mineral, the number of new applications continues to multiply. Smart phones, tablets, laptops, and other consumer electronics demand more lithium. But the largest driver for future lithium use will be in electric vehicles and home batteries for solar panels. That has lithium on the verge a boom for which supply can no longer be taken for granted.

Not since the shale boom have we seen a market transformation of such significance. Lithium has long been used for a variety of mundane purposes, and while the variety is spectacular—with applications in everything from glass, ceramics and greases to a line-up of industrial process—it has flown under the radar for most investors.

Supply has always largely managed to keep pace with steadily rising demand for lithium, and while the mineral is slated for growth with or without the ‘battery explosion’, Tesla’s gigafactory will spark a phenomenal spike in demand that will be no less exciting than the shale boom.

Not only will battery gigafactories change an already attractive lithium demand picture, but the suppliers themselves will change, making way for newer entrants—with more foresight and better technology--that will provide some of the best investment opportunities in the sector.

(Excerpt) Read more at oilprice.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: batteries; efv; electriccars; energy; lithium; tesla
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To: thackney
"Make sure you read the post in that link that discuss the power delivery system required to make that claim a reality."

Are you referring to the claim that such a capacitor could be charged very quickly because of a lack of internal resistance? If so, I would still be more concerned about the cost of an array for running a car as compared to a lithium array of the same usable charge value. It could be charged over a period of hours.

I'm not personally drawn to using an electric car, by the way, because of the extreme cold, long distances to services, steep passes and no nearby grid power to hook up to here. But if an electric car were developed to be cost effective in the more temperate and level lowlands, I'd be in favor of that for folks in such places.

If I were forced to build an electric vehicle now, I'd probably take a good look at AGM batteries first (low internal resistance, safety and probably still less expensive than lithium).


21 posted on 07/29/2015 6:25:22 PM PDT by familyop (Stampedes driven by fallacies of the most base and simple kind as issued from decaying brains.)
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To: Paladin2; thackney

Here’s what I like about Elon Musk, by the way. I don’t have a use for an electric vehicle here, yet, but open source equipment design for a more distributed, productive and strong economy will be a much better fit for fiscal and moral conservatism.

All Our Patent Are Belong To You
Elon Musk, CEO June 12, 2014
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you


22 posted on 07/29/2015 6:35:30 PM PDT by familyop (Stampedes driven by fallacies of the most base and simple kind as issued from decaying brains.)
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To: familyop

I am referring to the claim of the very quick charge.

While the capacitor may be capable of it, the energy delivery system to the capacitor won’t be capable of that much power.


23 posted on 07/30/2015 7:35:17 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Norm Lenhart; moose07
"I picked the wrong week to give up lithium."


24 posted on 07/30/2015 7:39:09 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: thackney

Yes. That’s true, and spending on infrastructure changes won’t be a political priority.


25 posted on 07/30/2015 11:14:22 AM PDT by familyop (Stampedes driven by fallacies of the most base and simple kind as issued from decaying brains.)
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To: familyop

The utility grid is not the problem, it would be the connection to the car from the grid. The grid can handle that.

But your home or charging station is not going to be set up for 1,000 to 5,000 amps per car for a 5 minute charge.


26 posted on 07/30/2015 11:31:48 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney
"The utility grid is not the problem, it would be the connection to the car from the grid. The grid can handle that."

In my area on the Rockies, 1.5 gigawatts of extra pull would do the grid real good. It goes down with quite a bit less heat than that in the coils. ;-)

"But your home or charging station is not going to be set up for 1,000 to 5,000 amps per car for a 5 minute charge."

That's true. There's no grid power to my home. But many of the other homes around here have some whopper transformers on the ground in front of them. Those political/regulator parasites would up-size in a heartbeat just to be groovy. And government-fed socialists are the majority of utility investors here by far. There's no private sector production. ;-)


27 posted on 07/30/2015 11:46:23 AM PDT by familyop (Stampedes driven by fallacies of the most base and simple kind as issued from decaying brains.)
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To: thackney

I’m probably the only man in favor of uranium exploration for many miles here. Also probably the only one who would want feasible natural gas production without monstrous commie fees, too.

But all of that’s going to have to wait until after the end of the default process, many more foreclosures and much rotting of palatial, government-funded houses.


28 posted on 07/30/2015 11:50:52 AM PDT by familyop (Stampedes driven by fallacies of the most base and simple kind as issued from decaying brains.)
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