Another question
Gasoline can be made from synthetic hydrocarbons in a Fischer-Tropsch reaction thus, making it a potentially renewable commodity.
Lithium is I believe, a fairly rare mineral. How much of it exist? And, is there enough to meet the demand if everyone drove a Tesla car?
Lithium is rare but not as rare as cobalt. Lithium cobaltite is the anode in these batteries and the cobalt is the major raw material cost. Cobalt comes mostly from the Congo and its price is determined by cartels. The “new” lithium mineral sources in Nevada will not lower the lithium cost because recovering the lithium values from these ores is energy intensive, i.e. calcining, making the brine sources such as Chile and Argentina much cheaper. But again, no one especially Elon Musk ever talks about cobalt cost.