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Lithium, the key element in the batteries that power electric cars, as well as smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers, is sometimes called white gold. Over time, the price of the metal has gone up and up. But recently, and surprisingly, the price of lithium has actually gone down, helping to make electric vehicles more affordable.

Over the first couple of months of this year, the price of lithium has dropped by nearly 20%. The price of cobalt, another important component of vehicle batteries, has fallen by more than half. Even copper, another battery material, has seen its price drop by 18%.

Many analysts predicted that prices of these commodities would stay high or even climb higher. The reason for the decline, as well as whether it is likely to persist, is the subject of much debate.

Some experts believe that the price drops are a result of demand not being as high as expected, perhaps related to slowing sales growth of EVs in Europe and China after certain subsidies expired. Other industry experts said that the drop was a result of new mines and processing plants providing additional supply sooner than was thought possible.

Despite the price drops, mining and processing lithium remains an extraordinarily profitable business. It costs from $5,000 to $8,000 to produce a ton of lithium that sells for ten times that amount. With such fat profit margins, there is no shortage of banks and investors eager to finance lithium mining and processing projects. Such profit margins are probably not sustainable and that will likely result in more reasonable prices over time.

There is plenty of lithium in the world. The huge demand for it is a recent phenomenon and the world is still working out how to meet that demand.

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Falling Lithium Prices Are Making Electric Cars More Affordable

Photo, posted January 9, 2023, courtesy of Phillip Pessar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Canada lynx are medium-sized North American big cats known for their long, black ear tufts, and their ability to hunt across the surface of deep snow. Historically, the predator’s habitat ranged across Alaska, Canada, and much of the Northern United States. But in the contiguous U.S. today, the Canada lynx exists only in several disjunct populations in Maine, Minnesota, Colorado, Idaho, Washington and Montana.

While Glacier National Park in Montana is famous for its grizzly bears and mountain goats, the park also holds a surprising number of Canada lynx, and could serve as a much-needed climate refuge for the big cats in the future.

Glacier National Park is one of the few, large, protected areas located within the Canada lynx range in the Lower 48. Using an array of 300 motion-sensitive cameras on hiking trails throughout Glacier, researchers from Washington State University conducted the first parkwide occupancy survey for Canada lynx inside the park. They were surprised to find that Glacier is home to roughly 50 Canada Lynx. In fact, the researchers found that the iconic predator resides across most of the park’s 1,600 square-mile landscape, although at lower densities than in the core of its range further north.

The researchers also found that Canada lynx are distributed at lower elevations inside Glacier. Since the cats are a cold-adapted species that need the deep snow, within Glacier, they have a lot of room to climb in elevation as the climate warms.

The researchers hope their survey can serve as a baseline population estimate to help their collaborators with the National Park Service keep tabs on the numbers of Canada lynx in Glacier.

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Glacier National Park could be climate haven for Canada lynx

Photo, posted February 22, 2014, courtesy of Eric Kilby via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Falling Lithium Prices | Earth Wise

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Canada Lynx And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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