Bolivia: Saudi Arabia of lithium

Electric cars may be the future of transportation, but a bottleneck in the supply of lithium — mostly found in Bolivia and used in batteries — could create problems.

Tue, Apr 28 2009 at 10:11 PM

Related Topics:

Electric Vehicles, Battery Technology

Flickr user Alicia Nijdam

Most of the world's supply of lithium, a necessary ingredient in modern high-capacity batteries, comes from Bolivia. The metal is locked away in massive salt flats in the South American country and could turn into a kink in the transition to electric cars, which rely on the metal for its superior ability to hold and discharge electricity.

CNN ran a great piece about what it means to have the world's supply of a necessary ingredient for electric cars tied up in one country. Bolivia seems to know what it is that they have under their soil and is understandably keen on using it to leverage themselves into a more developed (and richer) country.

Check it out:

Via [BoingBoing]

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