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How Tesla Is Shaking Up Metals Markets
- dredmorbius 10y agoTesla needs 60kg of copper per vehicle. At current global extraction, new supplies are 2 kg/capita. That's a crimp on total vehicle availability. Most major mines are due for closure within a few years. Total copper content of Earth's crust is fairly high, but little of that is economic even at massively higher prices.
- ssmoot 10y agoWhy so much copper? Motor windings? High current wiring? Some massive heatsinks?
- rmm 10y agoThe hype on lithium is extraordinary. Everybody in my industry is out looking for it, hoping to develop a project, put together some half-baked feasibility study on, and sell it to one of the bigger miners. (Who probably will buy it). Battery tech is only now becoming the bigger end-user of lithium (ceramics and glass have been the biggest consumers to date), and although the growth is quite rapid the ability for the current market to supply is not difficult. A project in Argentina is just ramping up and the facilities nameplate throughput will be able to increase global supply 20-30% itself. Its not so much Tesla shaking it up, but the hype around it.
- nathancahill 10y agoSame article? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11644597 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11644597