Geopolitical tensions must be set aside as the world faces shortages of critical battery materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt due to surging demand, said Robin Zeng Yuqun, founder of Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), the world’s largest manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).
Countries – from government leaders to businesses and non-governmental organisations – must collaborate to accelerate innovation in the EV battery industry to ensure a resilient supply chain, reduce dependency on critical metals and decarbonise the transport sector to tackle the climate crisis, Zeng told the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.
“The demand for critical materials might increase by five times in the next 10 years, considering the fast growth of the industry. But at the end of the day, when we achieve 100 per cent electric cars, there will be very tiny amounts of new critical materials to be mined.”
China leads the world in battery recycling technologies, an important solution for addressing battery material shortages.
For instance, Zeng told the forum that CATL currently has the capacity to recycle as much as 99.6 per cent of precious metals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese, and up to 91 per cent of lithium, higher than Europe’s capacity of 70 per cent to 80 per cent. Last year, CATL recycled 100,000 tonnes of waste batteries through its subsidiary Brump to create 13,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, he said.
“We are fighting climate change … so whatever the geopolitical issues are, we have to find a way,” Zeng said during the panel.
As sales of EVs continue to break records around the world, governments and carmakers are increasingly concerned about the persistent shortages of lithium, nickel and cobalt, which could put the net-zero transition under threat.
S&P Global forecast that a more than 270 per cent increase in lithium production levels is needed to meet the estimated demand from the EV battery sector by 2030. Nickel and cobalt are also expected to be critical, but to a lesser degree as the deployment of iron-based chemistries will remedy their potential shortage, it said.
The Fujian-based company is willing to share its technologies and help overseas carmakers address their battery shortages, Zeng said. By 2042, China will no longer need to mine new mineral materials because of its mature battery recycling market, he added.
CATL is increasingly expanding its capacity overseas with plants in Germany and Hungary. It is also partnering with Amsterdam-based multinational carmaker Stellantis and Ford Motor to build battery factories in Europe and Michigan in the US.
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