Lithium-ion batteries have proven to be a key link in global supply chains, placing these unassuming electronics at the crux of the future of electric vehicle markets around the world. And lithium is not the EV sector’s only problem element. The electric car supply chain is also heavily dependent on cobalt, a pricey metal that makes electric cars so prohibitively expensive for most consumers, with the battery’s cobalt content accounting for an astonishing 40 percent of the car’s total value. Now, however, it looks like Tesla is poised to disrupt the entire EV market and supply chain with new innovation by taking on both lithium and cobalt. “As Tesla plans next-generation electric vehicle batteries, focus is turning to lithium-iron, not the lithium-ion that has been the fundamental chemical engineering science powering EVs to date,” CNN reported earlier this week. Got that? Iron, not ion. While the words may be […]