Excerpt from balkangreenenergynews.com
Volkswagen, Stellantis, and General Motors (GM) have signed agreements with lithium producers Controlled Thermal Resource from the United States, and Vulcan Energy Resources from Germany in a push to secure lithium for EVs batteries. They aim to obtain domestic lithium supply in order to break dependence on imports, mostly from China.
Stellantis was created in January in a merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Groupe PSA.
Of note, Rio Tinto is planning to build a lithium mine and processing plant in Serbia, but it is facing strong opposition by the people.
Technologies for the extraction of lithium from geothermal brine are still in the development phase, but the agreements confirm they are close to becoming cost-effective. The method is integrated with the production of electricity in geothermal power plants, which reduces expenses.
The two countries that have done the most in developing these technologies are Germany and the US. So it is not a surprise that Volkswagen and Stellantis have signed binding agreements with Vulcan Energy Resources from Germany, and GM with Controlled Thermal Resource from the US.