It is a critical blow to the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles, and thus to our entire e-car “all-electro” strategy pursued to date:
According to CNN, China “has announced plans to restrict exports of graphite – a mineral critical to making batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) – for national security reasons, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs announced Friday.”
It is important to know that China processes 87% of all rare earths worldwide!
This is precisely why we are advocating openness to technology and a broader approach to the mobility and transportation of tomorrow. eFuels (synthetic fuels) should be an important component here – if only for reasons of independence from China and thus national security. Just like the combustion engine.
Our question, therefore, is: How dependent do we actually want to make ourselves on China – a country that is now starting to determine the market according to its own rules? Our experience with Russian gas should clearly give us food for thought.
