IPO Edge and the Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association hosted a fireside chat panel on EV technologies on Tuesday, April 4 at 10 AM ET. The live event featured the CEO’S of Zoomcar, Carbon Revolution, Li-Metal Corp., the SVP of Program Development at EVgo, Inc., a Partner at Vinson & Elkins and a Managing Director at ICR. The panel was joined by IPO Edge Editor-in-Chief John Jannarone and Editor-at-Large Jarrett Banks in a moderated video session lasting approximately 60 minutes including a Q&A with the audience.

Watch REPLAY: CLICK HERE

Speakers:

About Zoomcar

Zoomcar is India’s largest marketplace for cars on rent. From short road trips to quick in-city drives for groceries, supply pick-up, food runs, we have the cheapest car rental options for all your needs! A hatchback for daily commute, a sedan for short trips, SUV for hills or a luxury car for a surprise. With Zoomcar, you can experience the convenience of online booking. The cars listed on our platform come with all-India permits that include vehicle insurance. It is extremely easy to pick up the car from the host location. You can drive unlimited KMs, with 100% Free Cancellation up to 6 hours before the trip start, 0 Security Deposit, 0 Toll Charges, and 24/7 Roadside Assistance. Car rent per KM starts as low as Rs. 49/hour. From short road trips to quick in-city drives for groceries, supply pick-up, meeting friends and family, doctor visits, business trips, we have the cheapest car rental options for all your needs! A hatchback for daily commute, a sedan for short trips, SUV for hills or a luxury car for a surprise.

About EVGO

EVgo (Nasdaq: EVGO) is a leader in charging solutions, building and operating the infrastructure and tools needed to expedite the mass adoption of electric vehicles for individual drivers, rideshare and commercial fleets, and businesses. Since its founding in 2010, EVgo has led the way to a cleaner transportation future and its network has been powered by 100% renewable energy since 2019 through the purchase of renewable energy certificates. As one of the nation’s largest public fast charging networks, EVgo’s owned and operated charging network includes around 900 fast charging locations, 60 metropolitan areas and 30 states. EVgo continues to add more DC fast charging locations through EVgo eXtend™, its white label service offering. EVgo is accelerating transportation electrification through partnerships with automakers, fleet and rideshare operators, retail hosts such as grocery stores, shopping centers, and gas stations, policy leaders, and other organizations. With a rapidly growing network, robust software products and unique service offerings for drivers and partners including EVgo Optima™, EVgo Inside™, EVgo Rewards™, and Autocharge+, EVgo enables world-class charging experience where drivers live, work, travel and play.

About Li-Metal

Li-Metal is developing and commercializing technologies that address key challenges in the supply chain of next generation batteries. Our technologies are poised to dramatically lower the cost of high-performance metallic lithium anodes, and increase the security and sustainability of lithium metal production. Our mission is to create scalable technologies that support and accelerate adoption of next-generation batteries, and to provide a reliable supply of critical materials and components for new energy applications.

About Carbon Revolution

Carbon Revolution is a global technology company and Tier 1 OEM supplier, which has successfully innovated, commercialized and industrialized the supply of lightweight carbon fibre wheels to the global automotive industry.

The Company was founded in 2007 with the purpose of bringing disruptive efficiency technology to all vehicles. Carbon Revolution has progressed from single prototypes to designing and manufacturing wheels at commercial scale for some of the most prestigious brands in the world. With over 60,000 Carbon Revolution wheels on the road, Carbon Revolution is the recognized leader in the sector. Carbon Revolution has penetrated the performance and premium end of the market with OEM programs for Ford, Ferrari, General Motors and Renault. Carbon Revolution was recently awarded its first EV wheel program with a North American OEM, and has more EV programs in development.

About Vinson & Elkins

Vinson & Elkins is recognized as a premier law firm with a diversified practice that serves the needs of a global industry. We offer an integrated team of nearly 700 skilled lawyers in 12 global locations in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. For more than 100 years, V&E has achieved excellent results for clients around the world. Our reputation has been built on handling day-to-day matters, as well as those involving pivotal and bet-the-company legal issues. Consistently high rankings in legal directories such as Chambers and Legal 500, among others, reflects the confidence we have earned from clients and peers by delivering excellent results over the long term.

About ICR

Established in 1998, ICR partners with its clients to execute strategic communications and advisory programs that achieve business goals, build awareness and credibility, and enhance long-term enterprise value. The firm’s highly-differentiated service model, which pairs capital markets veterans with senior communications professionals, brings deep sector knowledge and relationships to approximately 1,000 clients across more than 20 industry groups. ICR’s healthcare practice operates under the Westwicke brand (www.westwicke.com). Today, ICR is one of the largest and most experienced independent communications and advisory firms in North America, maintaining offices in New York, Norwalk, Boston, Baltimore and Beijing. Learn more at www.icrinc.com. Follow us on Twitter at @ICRPR and LinkedIn.

Contact:

IPO-Edge.com

daniellap@capmarketsmedia.com

Twitter: @IPOEdge

Instagram: @IPOEdge

• Li-Metal’s technology converts lithium carbonate to lithium metal, skipping a step that creates what is essentially a waste product.
• The company also touts the ability to make a thinner anode, which could enable the use of batteries for applications such as electric aviation.
• A circular economy for lithium may be possible in the future, but more electric vehicles must first enter the marketplace.

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  Li-Metal President Kunal Phalpher
  Source: Li-Metal Corp.
• Li-Metal Corp. works with lithium metal and anode technology for next-generation lithium batteries, and it has developed a process to convert lithium carbonate directly into lithium metal for use in battery technologies.

  The company’s recently appointed president, Kunal Phalpher, said it is an exciting time to be involved in lithium. The development of battery technologies is moving along faster than he anticipated. As original equipment manufacturers increasingly embrace electric vehicles, a race for differentiating technology could produce interesting new types of batteries that pave the way for new consumer products and services such as electric aviation.

S&P Global Commodity Insights spoke with Phalpher for the latest episode of the Energy Evolution podcast, discussing how Li-Metal views current lithium markets and how next-generation lithium batteries might affect the energy transition. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

S&P Global Commodity Insights: Tell us a bit about how you view lithium markets today and some of the greatest challenges faced by those looking to buy lithium.

Kunal Phalpher: I think, in general, we’ve seen a rapid increase in the number of gigafactories and the number of vehicles promised by different OEMs. That’s created a market in which the projected amount of lithium required versus being supplied has a mismatch.

We saw over the last 12 months or so a massive run-up in the price of lithium. Obviously, the OEMs and the battery makers are looking at that and looking at the prices and seeing how that will impact their bottom line in the future.

Episodes of Energy Evolution are available on iTunes , Spotify and other podcast platforms.

So, what exactly does Li-Metal do in the lithium and battery space?

Li-Metal’s focused not on the lithium-ion technologies of today but really on what’s coming next down the pipeline in next-generation vehicles, batteries or other applications like electric aviation.

We’re a company that started, actually, with a focus specifically on lithium metals, converting lithium from its chemical form back into a metal form. It has existing applications today in aerospace, pharma and primary batteries — so your little coin cells that go in different devices. Traditionally, that’s made from a product called lithium chloride, and it results in a lot of chlorine gas offset.

Our firm has developed a process to convert lithium carbonate directly into lithium metal. As the company developed that process and started to look at this next-generation battery market — so say, solid-state batteries or just lithium metal anode or lithium-sulfur technologies — we developed a thesis or identified an opportunity for a better way to make the anode for batteries.

We also stepped into that part of the value chain by developing a technology that could produce thinner anodes, which helps with the economics of the battery and performance. That’s our second technology, where we’re actually able to put lithium onto copper or other substrates for these next-generation batteries.

Backing up a second, can you explain what you mean when you talk about anodes and cathodes? Also, how is your technology an improvement over conventional technologies?

So cathode, you have the positive side, and anode, you have the negative side of the battery, kind of like your plus and minus on your Duracell or Energizer AA. A lot of the focus in the lithium-ion industry has been focused on what you use on the cathode side. Is it nickel based? Or is it iron phosphate-based?

For all those technologies in the lithium-ion space, the anode side has always been graphite. It’s been graphite on copper that basically the lithium ions travel to. And that makes up about 40% of the battery weight. People haven’t really focused, as lithium-ion got developed, on that side of the battery.

Groups have started looking at whether we can put silicon or lithium metal on that side of the battery to improve performance, safety and cost. Competing technology is coming from groups that are making silicon anodes that also have good performance and other characteristics that are beneficial for the battery.

Can you tell us a little bit about why you think this is a game changer in the battery space and what kind of things we might see come from the developments companies like yours are making?

There are a few benefits of using new anode technology, such as higher energy density. What that enables is with a lower weight, you can have the same range, or at the same weight, you could have double the range for your consumer EV. So there are benefits and different paths that can be taken, but you definitely can help to get more value or more energy out of the same resources when you talk about, say, the nickel and cobalt going into the cathode side.

The other thing that enables is also a reduction in weight or specific energy. So when we look at not the road applications, but say, electric aviation, these air taxis, they’re really concerned about the weight of the battery and … to be able to bring down the weight. You’re lifting the weight of the battery off the ground to get in the air. That’s a huge benefit for an enabler of that industry as well.

What are some of the environmental problems associated with lithium, and what about your company’s process is cleaner than conventional uses of lithium?

The challenge of the existing metal production is … coming out of the ground, there can be a form of lithium chloride. They usually then convert it to lithium carbonate and then convert it back to lithium chloride to make metal. What occurs then is you have, for every ton of metal, five tons of chlorine gas created in your production and also, that lithium chloride they’re producing doesn’t really have too many other applications.

It’s also a supply chain constrained in the sense that if you want to scale metal production for what is needed down the road for these next-generation batteries, you’d have to scale chloride production as well. So there’s an economic benefit to being able to use existing supply chains that are being scaled around lithium carbonate as well for our process.

Do you see a future for a circular economy model around lithium where we recycle our batteries to the extent that new lithium no longer needs to be mined?

It will definitely take some time, but we see it now in lead acid, 98% to 99% is from recycled material. We need to get to a steady state right now. There’s just so much growth and investment in new facilities and new requirements to get us to 50%, 60% sales of EVs. Of all passenger vehicles right now … 5% of all vehicles or so — in North America, at least — are EVs.

So, to increase that production significantly, you need to expand that whole supply chain. Once you get into a steady state, everyone is buying an EV. Everyone’s bringing it back and then buying a new one, and the battery is going to recycling. You can get to a more circular economy because you have a vast amount of material coming back out of the market. But then it has to be that first push, I think, to put it into the market to get us to that high penetration of EVs.

S&P Global Commodity Insights produces content for distribution on S&P Capital IQ Pro.

Maciej Jastrzebski, Li-Metal CEO on left. (Image courtesy of Li-Metal).

Born in 2018 after a series of lunchtimes conversations on Toronto’s Bay Street between former Hatch engineers Maciej Jastrzebski and Tim Johnston, Li-Metal Corp. (CSE: LIM) is a company currently providing low-cost anodes to battery developers working on cells undergoing qualification trials for the coming generations of electric vehicles.

Building on this momentum, the firm is also taking steps towards building out capacity and producing its own lithium metal to become a reliable local supplier of critical materials.

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“Li-Metal’s overarching strategy is to entrench then grow,” CEO Jastrzebski told MINING.COM.

Convinced that lithium metal batteries are the next big thing, the Canadian company developed a lithium metal production process that takes lithium carbonate, as recycled or virgin powder or granules, and dissolves it in molten salt. This is then electrolyzed in a membrane electrowinning cell which splits the lithium carbonate into technical-grade lithium metal and off-gas. The technical grade lithium metal is refined further to create high-performance, battery-grade metal.

According to Jastrzebski, this process is less expensive than existing lithium production processes, can utilize domestic chemical sources, and is more sustainable.

“Our lithium metal production uses a different feedstock; lithium carbonate, rather than lithium chloride, which is very advantageous. This requires a two-compartment cell with separate electrolytes for the cathode and anode, so the structure of the cell and operating philosophies are quite different compared to the conventional process,” the executive said. “The only similarity is that as the conventional process, it is a molten salt electrolysis process.”

MDC: What makes it more sustainable?

Jastrzebski: One of the biggest advantages of our process is that it avoids electrolyzing lithium chloride. When you electrolyze lithium chloride, you release about five tonnes of toxic chlorine gas for every tonne of metal you produce. This manifests as both fugitive emissions in the plant, and tail gas that has to be captured and treated. By eliminating this source of emissions, we are able to reduce the environmental impact of the process by-products. Similarly, because our process doesn’t require sophisticated gas-treatment equipment, we eliminate the energy and materials associated with its operation.

MDC: What makes it cheaper?

Jastrzebski: Firstly, most high-purity lithium chloride is made from lithium carbonate, so by using lithium carbonate directly we eliminate a conversion step that normally adds to the input cost of the feedstock. Secondly, because we don’t need to build and operate the same sophisticated gas treatment equipment, we save both on the initial build cost of the plant, and on the operating cost relative to the conventional process.

New anode technology

As it develops its lithium metal production technology, Li-Metal is also working on a new lithium anode technology.

The feedstock for both developments is obtained in the open market but once commercial-scale operations begin, the intention is to source sustainable, North American raw materials, including lithium carbonate from recycled batteries.

Jastrzebski said the company’s anode technology uses a roll-to-roll deposition process that consists of unwinding wide-format micron-scale material from the substrate roll and then passing the substrate through one or more deposition zones where lithium metal is applied together with a combination of other materials. From there, the completed anode is wound onto the product roll and packaged in argon gas for shipping, battery production or storage.

“The foundation behind our anode products is roll-to-roll physical vapour deposition – this is a technology that has been successfully applied in producing large format low-cost metallic products for decades,” the CEO said. “Our approach is unique because of the variety of materials we can deposit in a single pass. This gives us the capability to impart a variety of properties to the anode materials that can be used to enhance the electrochemical or economic performance of the materials.”

According to Jastrzebski, Li-Metal’s lithium anode technology uses less lithium for every square meter of anode compared to the alternatives available today.

“Existing lithium metal anodes are made by first extruding and rolling lithium into thin sheets. They can make thick foils that are between 40 and 150 microns but it becomes costly and difficult to scale as you approach the thicknesses that are needed for next-generation batteries,” he said. “Our technology does the opposite – it gets more economical as the anode thickness decreases and the cell size increases – which is exactly where next-generation batteries are going.”

MDC: What are Li-Metal’s plans once the patents for the anode technology and the lithium metal production process are approved?

Jastrzebski: We have a healthy technology and product development roadmap and we are continuously expanding our patent portfolio – we’ve filed additional patent applications this year, so we don’t really see patent approval as an end-state, but rather as part of our ongoing process.

We will also proliferate our technologies. We plan to supply and potentially license our anode production technology to battery and EV manufacturers, supply lithium metal consumables to operators of the technology, and continue to supply high-quality anode materials for high-performance batteries with pre-commercial and early commercial production runs to feed the pipeline.

Our key next steps are to commission our in-house advanced anode materials lab at our Markham, Ontario facility – we expect the work we have planned there to yield additional patentable IP. This will be shortly followed by the completion of our pilot roll-to-roll anode production facility in Rochester, New York where we will industrialize the research done in the anode lab. We are also anticipating the completion of our new lithium metal production pilot facility in Markham in the coming months. Looking further ahead, we are aiming to complete the engineering of our prototype commercial-scale anode production equipment and facility in 2022.

MDC: Where does Li-Metal fit in the next-generation battery supply chain?

Jastrzebski: Li-Metal can be thought of as a mid-stream supplier. Our value chain starts with bulk lithium carbonate and ends with rolls of high-performance metallic lithium anodes ready to go into battery cells. We are a customer of the chemical producers and a supplier to battery manufacturers. We can also potentially supply intermediate products such as metallic lithium to other industries.

The next-generation battery supply chain requires a completely evolved supply chain that doesn’t even exist yet. Producing next-generation batteries for electric vehicles with existing technologies can be costly, using more lithium than needed. Ultimately our technologies develop the building blocks for next-generation batteries creating more cost-effective, longer range, and safer electric vehicles.

Imagine having to uproot your life in the blink of an eye to ensure your family’s safety.

That’s what millions of Ukrainians now have to do as they flee the ongoing war in their country. And that’s why Canadian tech companies are stepping up to help them.

Tech founders Kostyantyn Khomutov of Ottawa-based GBatteries and Solon Angel of MindBridge are leading a new initiative called “Ukraine to Canada,” which helps refugees make their way out of the war zone.

What happens next: Since the initiative started in March, more than 20 families have connected with Kostyantyn and his team, sharing their stories and struggles and looking for support. One of the families, Viktoriia and her two children, was forced to pack up their lives in a hurry as they heard explosions outside their home. She asked that her last name not be published to protect her family’s safety.

We decided to leave our town,” Viktoriia told Ukraine to Canada. “Our house had already been bombed and there was nothing left to lose.

She is currently in Poland and Ukraine to Canada volunteers are helping with her family’s visa applications to relocate here.

The right thing to do: Khomutov and Angel jumped into action as the Ukrainian refugee crisis grew too big to ignore.

The war in Ukraine is having a devastating impact on regular, peaceful citizens that want to live their normal lives,” said Khomutov, who was born in Ukraine. “As a group of immigrants and fellow human beings ourselves, we identified the clear and immediate need to facilitate shelter and stability for Ukrainian citizens fleeing their homes.

Not only is the initiative helping refugees relocate and find a place to stay in Canada, economic development agency Invest Ottawa is also helping their effort by providing office space for workers who were forced to upend their careers in Ukraine.

Tech stepping up: “Ukraine to Canada” follows a larger tech community trend with other ventures extending help for those displaced by the war. Airbnb.org is offering free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine. There is also the Tech For Ukraine campaign, which has recruited more than 450 IT companies from 40 countries. The firms will help NGOs for free to address digital challenges, including protecting against Russian cyberattacks.

Understanding and solving consumers’ concerns with electric vehicles

The federal and Ontario governments are putting the pedal to the metal when it comes to electric hybrid vehicles. They each announced more than $130 million to upgrade a Honda plant in Alliston to produce hybrid EVs.

Why are governments giving EVs the green light? More Canadians are looking to pump the brakes on gas vehicles. With the price of fuel spiking to record highs, a new KPMG survey found that 61 per cent of Canadians say our vulnerable oil supply has convinced them it’s time to buy an EV. Thirty per cent say they regret they haven’t bought an EV already.

In the third quarter of 2020, just 3.5 per cent of total new vehicles registered in Canada were zero-emission vehicles. While the desire to own EVs has increased this year, some issues may be holding buyers back. This includes the time it takes to charge the vehicle, how much range the battery has and the lack of charging infrastructure.

Solutions are accelerating: These issues are widely recognized and several Canadian companies are looking to solve them. Toronto-based Li Metal is designing new technologies that will help produce cheaper, cleaner batteries that will help EVs travel farther and address the “charge and range anxiety” for prospective owners.

“Our efforts will help improve the range, safety, and cost of an EV,” said Maciej Jastrzebski, co-founder and CEO of Li Metal. “We produce ultrathin metallic lithium anodes that are designed to reduce the cost of the batteries while at the same time improving the energy density.”

Toronto’s Peak Power has developed technologies that allow EVs to provide backup power to homes and sell electricity back to the grid during moments of peak demand. The company says this creates income for drivers that will offset the cost of owning an EV.

“EVs are thought of as a mobility asset. We see EVs as a form of mobile energy storage,” said Matthew Sachs, chief operating officer of Peak Power. “When connected to industrial facilities or commercial buildings, battery energy storage can help balance supply and demand on the grid, reducing the most polluting and most expensive hours of energy use.”

Major accomplishment for Indigenous tech leader

Bobbie Racette has made Canadian tech history. She is one of the first Indigenous women to close a Series A round for her company The Virtual Gurus, which raised $8.4 million.

The Calgary-based venture uses technology to match organizations with virtual assistants from Canada and the U.S. It helps them with administration and bookkeeping, customer service support and other tasks like marketing. It also provides income-earning opportunities to under-represented individuals. Racette says it is important to have diversity in the innovation and tech sectors.

“It says something about the lack of representation that I’m the only (Indigenous woman) to close a Series A so far,” said Racette. “There just isn’t a lot of representation. That’s why I’m hoping to inspire other Indigenous women to pursue tech careers and launch their own ventures.”

Addressing systemic challenges: Racette says society needs to get past this concept of money trauma, the idea that Indigenous people don’t have the financial skills. She also says investors need to have confidence in Indigenous women to successfully build a business.

Racette’s accomplishment is a Canadian rarity. According to a report by the Innovation Economy Council, there is a need to support more Indigenous founders in tech. Only 39 per cent of the 36 hubs covered in the report track information about Indigenous identity. Of those 14 hubs, only six report supporting ventures with at least one Indigenous founder.

“Additional research on the Indigenous technology market and landscape is needed to help inform investors of the great potential within the community,” said Jarret Leaman, co-founder of the Centre for Indigenous Innovation and Technology. “Only then will we be able to see more Indigenous technology founders entering Series A.”

In other news …

• While many companies took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto’s MedMe Health used it to grow its pharmacy operations software. The company raised $3.4 million in seed funding for its platform to help pharmacies engage with patients, streamline workflows, and automate documentation. Microsoft’s venture capital arm led the round and MedMe says it plans to expand into the U.S.

• For Montreal-based Talent.com, it’s all in the name. The jobs listing startup that previously changed its name from Neuvoo just raised $120 million in new Series B funding as it gears up to take on players like Indeed and ZipRecruiter.

• 1PointFive announced that Airbus has pre-purchased 400,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits over four years, with an option to buy more in the future. The Texas company uses technology created by Squamish B.C.’s Carbon Engineering and will help Airbus to offset its carbon emissions.

• ApplyBoard has made its first acquisition in its seven-year history after purchasing Panda Portal for an undisclosed amount. The Kitchener, Ont.-based education industry training company has rebranded the new addition as TrainHub, which will remain a stand-alone platform operated by ApplyBoard.

• Mosaic Manufacturing and PolyUnity Tech Inc. announced a partnership to bring automated 3D printing to the health-care industry. By combining PolyUnity’s design services with Mosaic’s manufacturing tech, the two companies aim to improve patient outcomes while reducing health organizations’ operational costs.

Sigma Lithium is just one company racing to tackle the auto industry’s lithium crisis.

• Lithium is a crucial component of electric-car batteries.
• The Ukraine invasion, which threatens nickel, has elevated the need to secure battery metal supply.
• Here are 13 outfits seizing the opportunity to play a part in the growing lithium business.

The crisis in Ukraine has spelled trouble for the global electric-vehicle supply chain as it relates to nickel, a critical material in EV batteries. But it has also relit the spotlight on another metal key to battery production: lithium.

As a result, startups are racing to lead in an accelerating lithium market that could hit $34.3 billion by 2030 — 85% of which would be for the EV market, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Even though legacy automakers and startups are toying with different battery chemistries in search of the right mix of cost, performance, and availability of supply, many remain reliant on lithium-heavy tech. If companies lean on other lithium-based chemistries to reduce need for nickel or cobalt (the latter comes from problematic mining practices), demand for the metal could skyrocket.

But the lithium supply readily available, especially in the US, is expected to shrink as EV adoption accelerates and demand spikes. It’s an access problem, but being dependent on foreign sources (like China, which dominates the space, according to Global Data) also raises concerns around national security. President Joe Biden recently invoked the Defense Production Act to encourage domestic production of EV-battery minerals to mitigate that risk. And Elon Musk recently tweeted about his interest in a play in the lithium space.

“It takes somewhere between three to five years to bring lithium to market from the time you put capital on the ground to the time you actually can sell, can market that lithium,” Pedro Palandrani, the director of research at the fund-management firm Global X ETFs, said. “That inflexible nature of the supply side of the equation really creates these price increases for lithium and bottlenecks.”

Giants like Albemarle, Ganfeng Lithium, and Sociedad Química y Minera have long dominated the booming lithium space, but dozens of startups are entering the scene. Here’s a look at 13 of the outfits eyeing bigger parts of the space:

Piedmont Lithium

HQ: Belmont, North Carolina

CEO: Keith Phillips

The 6-year-old company is working to convert lithium resources into lithium hydroxide for batteries. The Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt, the only lithium deposit of its kind in the US, is one of the most important sites globally.

Piedmont is identifying prospective partners, such as EV startups and battery companies, to invest in and help fund Piedmont’s projects. To Piedmont, the best way for industry stakeholders to secure enough critical supply at a reasonable cost is to coinvest alongside a Piedmont Lithium asset.

“There will be companies that don’t get material and can’t produce enough cars. There will be others that get the material at very high cost. And there will be others that make investments to both secure the supply so they get the material and control the cost,” Phillips told Insider. “The only thing that’s going to hold back EV penetration is the supply chain.”

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Maciej Jastrzebski is the CEO of Toronto’s Li-Metal, a 4-year-old lithium-production startup.

Li-Metal

HQ: Toronto

CEO: Maciej Jastrzebski

Founded in 2018, Li-Metal’s lithium metal-production process uses available domestic chemical sources that don’t produce toxic byproducts. Its lithium-metal-anode tech means battery-cell makers and car companies can produce advanced batteries with less lithium.

It recently announced a joint development and commercialization agreement with the solid-state-battery producer Blue Solutions.

“I had been searching far and wide across the battery supply chain for cost-effective battery lithium metal, and not only did it not exist but the pathway to get there didn’t exist, and the answers that we were getting from the traditional lithium-metal companies and lithium-chemical companies were truly unsatisfactory,” Dean Frankel, Li-Metal’s chief commercial officer, told Insider in March. “We sit at the bleeding edge of the supply chain.”

Acme Lithium is in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Acme Lithium

HQ: Vancouver, British Columbia

CEO: Steve Hanson

Founded in 2020, Acme focuses on acquiring and developing battery-metal projects in partnership with tech companies and commodity partners. The company is still a few years away from permitting — required before the start of construction and operation — but has two projects in Nevada, one in Oregon, and two in Manitoba. Acme has active exploration programs this year.

“We don’t even have enough lithium supply for one automaker’s battery factory,” Hanson told Insider. “That’s why we’re seeing companies like Tesla and the big Detroit auto manufacturers, including Ford and GM, make significant investments in looking and seeking downstream sources.

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“We’re seeing strategic investors seek future supply at an earlier stage than before. They are making inquiries to companies like ours to understand where they may have supply many years down the road.

“It certainly sends the message that there is a huge concern by the auto manufacturers and by other technology companies: How can we secure supply for the long term?”

Lilac in Oakland, California, uses its technology to tap into reserves of lithium in salt-water deposits.

Lilac Solutions

HQ: Oakland, California

CEO: David Snydacker

In Oakland, California, Lilac focuses on how materials needed for manufacturing EV batteries are mined.

Lilac’s extraction technology taps into reserves of lithium in salt-water deposits. It says its process is more efficient and can be done more ethically and environmentally than many methods in use. The brine containing the lithium can be returned underground following extraction to minimize environmental impact. Lilac’s backers include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, led by Bill Gates, and BMW.

Ascend Elements

HQ: Westborough, Massachusetts

CEO: Mike O’Kronley

The startup, formerly known as Battery Resourcers, was founded in 2015. It manufactures battery materials pulled from discarded batteries, including lithium, and returns them to the battery supply chain. This helps eliminate the industry’s reliance on mining new materials.

It’s working with SK Battery America to recycle lithium-ion-battery manufacturing scrap out of Ascend’s recycling facility in Covington, Georgia, which the company says can recover 98% of materials.

Mangrove Lithium

HQ: Vancouver

CEO: Saad Dara

Spun out from a project at the University of British Columbia and founded in 2017, Mangrove says it’s developing a faster and less expensive way to refine and produce lithium.

“That raw material, we believe, is going to limit how many EVs can actually end up on the road,” Dara told Insider last year.

Mangrove is optimizing the step in between lithium extraction and battery manufacturing, using a processing tech to produce lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide for battery cathodes or anodes. The company wants to license its technology to mining companies, battery makers, and automakers.

Li-Cycle, a company founded in 2016 that recycles lithium-ion batteries, went public via SPAC in August.

Li-Cycle

HQ: Mississauga, Ontario

CEO: Ajay Kochhar

The company, which recycles lithium-ion batteries, was founded in 2016 and went public via special-purpose acquisition company in August. It has facilities in Kingston, Ontario, and Rochester, New York, and plans to build more in Arizona, Alabama, Ohio (via GM’s Ultium Cells), and Norway. A new Rochester hydrometallurgical hub could help it lead in battery-grade nickel, cobalt, and lithium production.

Li-Cycle’s commercial battery-supply customers include Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, General Motors, and Kia. It also has an agreement to recycle battery scrap from LG Energy Solution and supply it and LG Chem with nickel starting next year.

“Consumers have spoken, and they want these vehicles. That’s first and foremost. Hence, OEMs are tailoring to their customers,” Kochhar told Insider in March, referring to original equipment manufacturers. “Zooming out, we can help to alleviate these supply-chain pressure points, and in the long term, this could be the urban mining solution.”

Sigma Lithium, founded in 2012, is working to create the largest hard-rock-lithium deposits in the Americas. Pictured is Ana Cabral-Gardner.

Sigma Lithium

HQ: Vancouver

CEO: Calvyn Gardner and Ana Cabral-Gardner

The Canadian company, founded in 2012, is working to develop the largest hard-rock-lithium deposits in the Americas. It plans to use lithium to boost growth of the EV industry, and it wants to do so by becoming one of the biggest and lowest-cost producers of sustainable lithium products. It is currently under construction, operating out of Brazil, and has been producing lithium concentrate at a demonstration pilot plant since 2018. Sigma Lithium has a contract with LG and hopes to reach net-zero targets by 2024.

“No matter which battery technology one selects, you always have around 17 to 20% lithium in the battery,” Cabral-Gardner told Insider in December. “We need to follow the energy transition with production practices and production techniques that are in line with the decarbonization and sustainability purpose of promoting the energy transition to begin with.”

Lithium Americas, which runs projects in both Argentina and the US, was founded in 2007 and is based in Canada.

Lithium Americas

HQ: Vancouver

CEO: Jonathan Evans

Lithium Americas, which was founded in 2007 and has raised $1 billion in debt and equity, mines, produces, and supplies lithium. It runs projects in both Argentina and the US and is working to develop new sources of lithium, which it says will help meet the growing demand for low-carbon energy sources. In Argentina, it runs the Cauchari-Olaroz project, expected to be the next low-cost brine-lithium-carbonite project in the country, as well as the Pastos Grandes project, which it acquired in December. In the US, it runs the Thacker Pass project in Nevada, which will be developed as an open-pit mining operation.

Standard Lithium

HQ: Vancouver

CEO: Robert Mintak

Standard Lithium, founded in 1998, claims to be bringing the first new US lithium project in more than 50 years into production. Its flagship project is in southern Arkansas, which it says is the largest lithium-brine project in the US. The company is working to test and prove the commercial viability of sustainable lithium extraction from more than 150,000 acres of brine operations. It says its extraction process is environmentally friendly and eliminates the need for evaporation ponds, as well as reduces the processing time to hours and increases the effectiveness of lithium recovery.

Core Lithium in Adelaide, Australia, wants to become Australia’s next major lithium producer by the end of this year.

Core Lithium

HQ: Adelaide, Australia

CEO: Stephen Biggins

Core Lithium, founded in 2010, says it’s developing one of Australia’s most capital-efficient, lowest-cost spodumene-lithium projects. Its goal is to become Australia’s next major lithium producer by the end of this year. Its Finnis Lithium Project is near the Darwin Port in Australia’s Northern Territory, which is the country’s nearest port to Asia. The company says its proximity to the port, as well as the fact that it’s close to grid power, gas, and railways, gives the project an advantage. According to Core’s website, it expects to start production before the end of the year.

Lake Resources in Sydney was founded in 1997 and has four lithium-brine projects in South America’s Lithium Triangle.

Lake Resources

HQ: Sydney

CEO: Stephen Promnitz

Lake Resources is an Australian clean-lithium developer founded in 1997 that is using direct-extraction technology developed by its technology partner, Lilac Solutions, to mine lithium. It has four lithium-brine projects in the Lithium Triangle in South America, which is where 40% of the world’s lithium is produced. Its flagship Kachi project in northern Argentina covers 170,000 acres.

Lake Resources recently signed a preliminary deal with Ford in which the automaker agreed to buy lithium from Lake Resources’ Kachi project, Reuters reported. Ford plans to buy roughly 27,500 tons of lithium from Lake Resources, though the agreement is nonbinding. The Kachi project is expected to be open by 2024, according to Reuters.

Lithium Corp.

HQ: Elko, Nevada

CEO: Tom Lewis