The EV revolution has only just begun.
As DC stated, “Chinese demand for natural flake graphite will outstrip its own supply”.
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Every electric vehicle rolling off an assembly line increases the demand for graphite by an average of around 160 pounds. With more than 30 million EVs expected to hit global highways each year by 2030 and upwards of 45 million by 2045, the transition to e-mobility will require up to eight times more graphite than was mined globally during 2022.
The demand for graphite is expected to outpace the number of new electric cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs hitting global highways as the nascent EV sector matures, according to Adamas Intelligence's biannual "State of Charge" report published in March.
The higher quantities of graphite per EV is due to automakers introducing fully electric versions of a wider range of vehicles, including SUVs, vans, and trucks, as well as vehicles with enough range to traverse North American highways, all of which require larger batteries and more graphite.
For example, the Tesla Model 3, which was the vanguard of the EV transition, has about 100 pounds of graphite in its batteries, whereas full-size SUVs like the GMC Hummer require roughly 500 lb of this anode ingredient.
Adamas Intelligence Managing Director Ryan Castilloux told Data Mine North that this trend toward bigger EV batteries with more graphite is anticipated to continue to rise disproportionally faster than total EV unit sales.
In its highest demand projection, DOE forecasts that global graphite demand could be more than eight times current production by 2035.
"In 2035, flake graphite demand for energy applications will account for 91% of the total demand, and EV batteries will account for 74% of the total demand," the U.S. Energy Department inked in its Critical Materials Assessment.
Silicon and other materials could be used as lithium battery anodes, "but complete substitution is unlikely due to technological challenges and performance concerns," according to the DOE.
With no domestic graphite mines and only small startup graphite refining facilities, the U.S. remains largely dependent on imports from China, which currently produces more than 60% of the world's mined graphite and nearly 90% of advanced anode material.
This is why DOE ranks graphite near the top of its list of minerals critical to America's energy future.
During an opening address at the Battery Gigafactories USA 2023 conference in Washington, DC, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence CEO Simon Moores stressed the importance of developing domestic mining and refining of graphite.
"When you have a lock on the flake graphite you have a lock on the anode material," he explained.
https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/story/2023/09/14/critical-minerals-alliances-2023/graphite-demand-outpaces-ev-sales/8097.html?m=true
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