Stop China from undermining the electric car revolution

Smelting point: electric vehicle battery prices have risen for the first time in more than a decade as China tightens its grip on supply of key metal cobalt

GOVERNMENTS around the world, including our own in the UK, want us to use electric vehicles. It’s an imperative if we’re to have any chance of meeting zero carbon targetsc, particularly in London.

So, the news electric car battery prices have risen for the first time in more than a decade is especially timely and alarming. The surging cost of metals used in the manufacture of batteries, such as cobalt and lithium, has pushed the price of a battery pack up to $151 per kilowatt hour, a rise of 7% on a year ago, according to the BloombergNEF annual survey.

They’ve been compiling their study since 2010, and prices have remained steady. Not anymore, not this year.

Seeing as the car industry views the $100 per kilowatt hour as the point at which electric cars become competitive with combustion engine vehicles, that widening gap is worrying, and challenging for motor manufacturers and for the authorities anxious for us to switch from petrol and diesel.