Europe isn’t ready to import the raw materials needed for electric cars. This sentiment, from a lithium company chief executive, goes against the narrative that the world is on the cusp of switching to a non-Chinese electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.
Even as carmakers and other players go directly to miners in Europe, the Americas and Australia to secure supply years in advance (although they’ve largely steered clear of actually funding these projects) China remains the key player in battery metals processing and battery manufacturing. Australia and Chile make up 85 per cent of lithium production, while China processes 60 per cent of this.
And while the US is managing to quickly build out some domestic processing capacity, Europe remains well behind.