The European Union’s goal of ending production of cars with conventional internal combustion engines by 2035 is driving vehicle makers into investments in mining battery-significant metals. Especially into lithium. Argentina has come to the forefront of interest.
Argentina plans to increase annual capacity
Argentina is currently the fourth largest lithium miner. According to Fernando Ávila, the Minister of Mining there, annual capacities may increase from the current 37.5 thousand tonnes to 246.5 thousand tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent by 2030.
The portal BNAmericas.com reported that automakers Ford and General Motors are at the forefront of the volume of announced investments in lithium mining in Argentina. Already some time ago, automakers BMW and Toyota also published their plans in this regard.
Battery Demand Growth for Electric Vehicles
According to estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the demand for batteries for electric vehicles could increase from the current approximately 340 gigawatt hours per year to more than 3.5 thousand gigawatt-hours by 2030. And it is Argentina that can play a major role in how demand for lithium will increase steadily over the coming years.
Automaker Ford alone plans to increase annual production of electric cars to 600 thousand by the end of 2023 up to more than two million a year by the end of 2026. Other vehicle manufacturers have similar goals.
