most people know it by now: Tomorrow’s vehicles will be electric. Away with forbrændingsmotorerne and forward with the batteries.
One of the automotive industry’s greatest challenges is, however, that the modern batteries require rare raw materials in large quantities – raw materials such as lithium, which are usually only mined in Africa or south America and often under dubious conditions.
A true nightmare for any environmentally conscious and ethically aware manufacturer.
But now it all becomes perhaps a little bit easier. Europe’s first lithium-mine is just around the corner in Finland, and the people behind it are now looking at the automotive industry as the obvious investors.
It tells Automotive News Europe.
– We can see that the automotive industry also is very interested in investing in mines, which never happened before, in order to ensure the source of raw materials and have control over where the materials for their batteries comes from, says Pertti Lamberg, executive director of the Finnish mining company Keliber Oy, according to Automotive News.
the Mining project, which stands to cost in the region of eur 1.8 billion. dollars to get up and running, will not be able to provide enough lithium to make Europe self-sufficient. But it will be a step on the road, and the company behind expect to be able to deliver the first battery-clear lithium at the end of 2021.
– A significant amount of lithium would have to come from Europe and end up in european cars, says Pertti Lamberg.
– Our materials will be traceable, and so we also know what our environmental footprint will be for each and every ton of lithium, we sell, ” he says.
Although the ambitions are big with the Finnish mining company, director will not yet put the names on the interested parties in the automotive industry.
When Automotive News interviewed a top executive at the car manufacturer Daimler about the prospect to invest in the mines, there was cautious optimism that track.
Andreas Hintennach, who is a senior manager in the company’s Group Research Electrochemistry – a department with specialists, among other things, examine all stages in the supply chain – was, however, not out with the really big manifestations yet.
– It is plausible, sounded the short answer.
