Automakers rush in where miners fear to tread

By Andy Home

The race for electric vehicle (EV) battery metals is heating up.

Automakers can’t go green without having sufficient quantities of the lithium, nickel, and cobalt that make the batteries work.

Fear of missing out, quite literally, is generating an industry-wide shift to investing directly in the mining sector to ensure future supplies of battery inputs.

General Motors Co has announced a $650-million investment in Lithium Americas Corp to help fund the development of the Thacker Pass project in Nevada.

GM gets exclusive rights to 40,000 tonnes per year of lithium from a domestic mine, which is key to qualifying for the EV subsidies available under the Inflation Reduction Act.