Dear Tesla: Please stop complaining about China be

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December 14, 2021 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The electrification of the global transportation system doesn't happen without lithium and graphite needed for lithium-ion batteries that go into electric vehicles.

An EV uses the same rechargeable batteries as found in phones or laptops, only bigger. The cathode, one of two components that stores and releases electricity, requires lithium, and nickel, manganese and cobalt - expensive metals found in one of the most common battery chemistries, NMC 8-1-1. (eight parts nickel to one part manganese and one part cobalt)

The anode is made from graphite, a critical metal that is harder to source than lithium. These materials need to be mined and processed into high-purity chemical compounds, then made into suitcase-sized battery packs, a procedure that is dominated by China, which accounts for roughly 75% of global lithium-ion battery capacity.

Lately Tesla has been talking about the grip China has on automakers requiring battery raw materials, in particular graphite, which is only mined in a handful of countries. Over half of the world's graphite production in 2020 came from China (650,000 tonnes of 1.1Mt), followed by Mozambique and Brazil at a respective 120,000t and 95,000t.

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A White House report on critical supply chains showed that graphite demand for clean energy applications will require 25 times more graphite by 2040 than was produced worldwide in 2020.

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