SUSTAINABILITY & CSR
58 a tripling of global cobalt production by 2030 . Despite the supply chain issues to be resolved he believes this forecast is conservative . “ There are less than four million electric cars in use today , forecast to hit 140 million in ten years – but that will be massively exceeded . As you reach the tipping point of electric vehicles becoming cheaper , the life cycle of the vehicle relative to internal combustion engine vehicles , could mean , all other factors being willing , we could see 300 million electric vehicles in the world . Even with prices of key ingredients going up , unit prices for lithium ion batteries will still go down as we benefit from economies of scale , and manufacturer technology and design , so they ’ ll become more and more competitive . The scale of lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity growth is unstoppable with over $ 50bn of committed capital in the next three years to building new manufacturing facilities , of which probably two-thirds are in China , a third in the rest of the world . Allied to that , the scale of commitment on the part of global automakers to electrifying their fleet , in terms of capital commitment , R & D ,
APRIL 2019