Lithium's "Shale Boom" Moment

When most people think of electric vehicles, they conjure a futuristic sci-fi world better suited for the big screen. 

If I were to ask you when the first EVs started showing up in the U.S., I imagine your answer might be sometime in the last decade or so, when EV sales started slowly ramping-up. 

Perhaps a few would even go as far back as 2008, when the first Tesla Roadsters were spotted on our highways. 

I’ll even bet there are a few older readers out there that would suggest it was the 1990s, when California started to push for more fuel-efficient vehicles, which prompted major automakers to build electric models like the Ford Ranger EV or the Chrysler TEVan

After all, it was this push that led to the creation of the Nissan Altra EV. What made this particular electric car special was the fact that it was the first time that lithium-ion batteries were used.

Unfortunately, those guesses are way, way off. 

True electric gearheads might just shake their head and mutter the name William Morrison. 

And you know what? 

They’d be right.

Tick-Tock Goes the EV Clock

Back at the tail-end of the 19th Century, William Morrison was a chemist that toiled in a lab in the basement of a jewelry shop in Des Moines, Iowa. 

He was working on a new concept: An electric carriage.

And by 1890, he filed his patent on an EV that carried six passengers, and was able to hit a whopping speed of 14 mph.

Here’s a look at this beast in action:

Although Morrison’s electric behemoth wasn’t able to go plaid like Tesla’s Model S, it does hold the honor of being the first electric car developed in the United States. 

We’ve come a long way since then.

What most people don’t realize, however, is that this EV transition is accelerating. EVs have been wholly embraced by the auto industry, and you may be surprised how quickly the major automakers are planning to be all-electric. 

Jaguar’s fleet expects to ditch ICE vehicles completely by 2025. Chrysler wants its cars to be fully electric by 2028. Buick plans to get there by 2030, and General Motors just five years after that. 

Cadillac, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Volvo, and Audi all plan to be fully electric within the next ten years. 

Like it or not, the EV transition is gaining momentum.

But here’s the catch…

That’s going to be a lot harder to do than most believe. You see, EVs need one disruptive technology that will allow it all to fall into place.

Controlling the World’s Lithium

If there’s one hurdle you can count on during this future EV takeover, it’s lithium. 

To put a little perspective on just how vital this critical metal is to the future of electric vehicles, look no further than Albemarle’s latest projections. Albemarle is the world’s largest lithium producer and sees demand — for EVs in particular — exploding higher before now and 2030:

But lithium production remains a problem. 

You see, there’s really only two ways the world gets the lithium it needs. Either it’s mined from hard rock and processed, or lithium-rich brine is pumped to the surface and left to dry in the sun for up to a year and a half before companies can extract it. 

That’s it. 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, nearly all of the world’s lithium production is concentrated in just a few places, and more than 60% of global lithium refinement is done in China. 

That’s not good for a burgeoning EV industry inside the U.S., no matter which way you look at it.

That is, unless a new disruptive technology comes along and changes the game. 

And that’s precisely what may happen soon. 

My colleague, Alex Koyfeman, has uncovered something fascinating — a new lithium extraction technology that stands to change the lithium game forever. 

Don’t take my word for it, let him show you this technology firsthand. 

This is something you have to see for yourself right away. 

Until next time,

Keith Kohl

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A true insider in the technology and energy markets, Keith’s research has helped everyday investors capitalize from the rapid adoption of new technology trends and energy transitions. Keith connects with hundreds of thousands of readers as the Managing Editor of Energy & Capital, as well as the investment director of Angel Publishing’s Energy Investor and Technology and Opportunity.

For nearly two decades, Keith has been providing in-depth coverage of the hottest investment trends before they go mainstream — from the shale oil and gas boom in the United States to the red-hot EV revolution currently underway. Keith and his readers have banked hundreds of winning trades on the 5G rollout and on key advancements in robotics and AI technology.

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