Graphite, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese and nickel are essential for the production of powertrain batteries for electric cars. Global deposits of these raw materials significantly exceed projected demand. However, Europe has only limited resources of its own. Our new factsheet provides information on reserves, production volumes, demand and dependencies of producing and refining countries.
As part of the ‘Critical Raw Materials Act’, the EU has defined a list of raw materials that are of great importance for economic development but can also be associated with supply risks. The global deposits of these raw materials – including graphite, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese and nickel – significantly exceed the projected demand. Nevertheless, there is a risk of supply bottlenecks, for example due to supply restrictions in producing or refining countries such as China, or insufficient development of deposits.
Establishing stable supply chains
In Europe, resources of battery raw materials are limited and existing deposits are hardly tapped. In order to establish more resilient supply chains, the expansion of refining, for example of lithium, in Europe and Germany is therefore being driven forward.
Demand will continue to rise
Demand for graphite, copper, lithium, nickel and manganese for EV batteries is expected to increase fivefold between 2023 and 2030, while demand for cobalt will only increase by about threefold due to the increased use of cobalt-reduced or cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries.
The importance of recycling is growing
Recycled material from batteries will reduce the demand for primary raw materials. The European Battery Regulation also sets increasing targets for material recovery and recycling efficiency for critical raw materials in end-of-life batteries.
In our (German language) factsheet entitled ‘Strategic raw materials for traction batteries in electric vehicles’ (‘Strategische Rohstoffe für Antriebsbatterien in Elektrofahrzeugen’), we provide the most important facts and figures on the strategic raw materials graphite, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese and nickel in profiles. We provide information on current and future demand and the most important reserve, production and refining countries.
Online seminar (in German) on the topic of ‘Strategic raw materials for powertrain batteries in electric cars’
on 14 January 2025, 11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.