Comments on: Opinion: A tidal wave of EVs will drive the flexibility market https://www.newpower.info/2021/09/opinion-a-tidal-wave-of-evs-will-drive-the-flexibility-market/ Expert information for all those invested in the UK's energy future Fri, 20 Feb 2026 08:08:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6 By: New Power https://www.newpower.info/2021/09/opinion-a-tidal-wave-of-evs-will-drive-the-flexibility-market/#comment-89504 New Power Fri, 17 Sep 2021 13:11:29 +0000 http://www.newpower.info/?p=10540#comment-89504 Mr Johnston, for EVs to “drive the flexibility market” requires that EVs become abundant and much cheaper. Indeed, until late year, lithium ion battery costs had been falling for at least twelve years and their energy density has been improving. Consequently, exponentially increasing demand for EVs of more than 50% per year has been realised.
Of course, this requires that the lithium ion battery demand must increase by the same amount annually and, in turn, the demand for the metals needed to build these batteries.
Either late last year or early this year, demand for the metals began to exceed the supply. The price of battery quality lithium, cobalt and nickel has doubled and it seems more than likely that the imbalance will worsen for the remainder of the 2020s, meaning that many EV factories may never produce planned production.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timtreadgold/2021/07/02/lithium-price-tipped-to-rise-after-warning-of-perpetual-deficit/
I might add that the ESG implications for mining these metals are also serious. Where ever these metals are mined, there are serious environmental and social issues.
Indeed, the gigantic increase in demand for special metals that are essential for the realisation of “net zero” threatens the realistic delivery of “net zero”. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions This issue must be seriously addressed before COP 26.

Hugh Sharman, Incoteco (Denmark)

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