There has been much hype around Lithium (and Lithium related stocks) recently, as prices of the metal skyrocket. The prices have risen on the back of strong demand growth, with lithium consumption doubling in the twelve years from 2000.
Lithium is used in everything from pharmaceuticals to ceramics and glass. Until 2012, it was estimated that more lithium was used in ceramic and glass production than any other application. However, the recent increases in demand have primarily come from lithium use in battery technology. Lithium- Ion batteries are a type of rechargeable battery, that tend to be more energy dense than other rechargeable battery types. In fact, modern rechargeable lithium-ion batteries can be as much as sixteen times as energy dense as a traditional leadacid car battery. Such energy density indicates that lithium-ion batteries are perfect for mobile phones, laptops, power tools, home electricity storage, and electric vehicles.
Electric vehicles are forecast to be a huge driver of lithium demand growth in the future. So far, the Nissan Leaf (a small all-electric vehicle) has already sold more than 200,000 units, and The Tesla Model S (a larger, more luxurious all-electric vehicle) has sold more than 120,000 units. Both of these vehicles use significant lithium-ion batteries.
The lithium-ion rechargeable battery market is forecast by Roskill Information Services Ltd, to grow at 21.5% per year. Much of this growth will be driven by the automotive sector, which uses large format lithium-ion batteries that can contain kilograms of…
