Lithium-Ion- Cobalt, Q and A

I would appreciate a discussion on Lithium-Ion batteries and the need for Cobalt in the manufacture of these batteries.

Cobalt seems to be in relatively short supply with the Congo being the major source where I would think the jurisdiction is pretty nasty especially in the human rights area. There has been a recent discovery in WA by Ardea Resources (ARL) who are an 'early days yet' explorer. Seems they have some.
One of the difficulties is that Cobalt is usually a byproduct of Copper and Nickel mining so production is linked to the fortunes of those metals.

If  Lithium- Ion is the current basic battery type used in electric cars then the rise of Cobalt might well be a limiting and moderation factor?
A speed bump maybe for PLS if indeed the Cobalt is an inextricable ingredient.

When asked if he worries about lithium supply, Tesla CTO JB Straubel once said that he worries more about cobalt, which is used in the cathode of Tesla’s battery cells. The resource is more problematic since the bulk of it overall supply has historically come from the conflict-prone Congo,
(https://electrek.co/2016/11/01/breakdown-raw-materials-tesla-batteries-possible-bottleneck/ )

I see that Lithium-Sulphur batteries are a likely alternative without the explosive/burning problem, but I am not sure whether the research has been commercialised. I read:

The lithium–sulfur battery (Li–S battery) is a type of rechargeable battery, notable for its high specific energy.^[1] The low atomic weight of lithium and moderate weight of sulfur means that Li–S batteries are relatively light (about the density of water). They were used on the longest and highest-altitude solar-powered aeroplane flight in August 2008.^[2]
Lithium–sulfur batteries may succeed lithium-ion cells because of their higher energy density and reduced cost from the use of sulfur.^[3] Currently the best Li–S batteries offer specific energies on the order of 500 W·h/kg, significantly better than most lithium-ion batteries, which are in the range of 150 to 200 W·h/kg. Li–S batteries with up to 1,500 charge and discharge cycles have been demonstrated.^[4] As of early 2014, none were commercially available.^[5] The key issue of Li–S battery is low electrical conductivity of sulfur cathode needing an extra mass for a conducting agent and the current research focus is to find highly conductive cathodes.


So do we have a pending bottleneck??????


Long Neck Bottle Let Go of My Hand



So I am finding it hard to distinguish between the scientific and the commercial viability of Sulphur.?
Whether Cobalt is actually a speed bump in our PLS Lithium asperations?
Are we ignoring the bigger picture in our 'happy fest' with Lithium?
What current ingredients does EV technology need.

Have a look here and the mind boggles Google Battery Types
Besides we needed a new thread- too much divergence on the graphs thread