Washington, D.C.—In response to recently-published guidance opening loans totaling $42 billion from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for critical minerals projects, SAFE President and CEO Robbie Diamond made the following statement:
“Tomorrow’s economies will be powered by batteries and electric transportation fed by a robust critical minerals supply chain, and the country that gets there first will reap significant financial and strategic rewards. We are way behind China in the race to electrification, and we need a more muscular industrial strategy, from minerals to markets, to make sure we do not get left behind.”
“It is good that we are thinking beyond the final product and back up the entire supply chain as a whole. From an economic and national security standpoint, there is little use in the final product being ‘Made in the USA’ if all its components are imported from China. If we do not lead the transition to tomorrow’s connected, electric economy, we risk becoming dependent on China for the technologies and vehicles that will move our people and goods for decades to come,” Diamond added.
In SAFE’s latest report, The Commanding Heights Of Global Transportation, SAFE finds that China controls nearly 70 percent of global electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing capacity, while North America has less than 10 percent. This vast control includes:
- Direct or indirect control of 70 percent of the world’s lithium supply, 61 percent of the cathodes and 83 percent of the anodes used in batteries.
- Ownership of 80 percent of the rare earths supply needed for U.S. weapons systems and EVs, and control over the processing of this supply.
- China produces roughly 75 percent of the permanent magnets that use rare earths, another critical component for EV motors
- By 2020, 107 of the 142 lithium-ion battery megafactories under construction worldwide are, or will be, located in China. Just nine are planned for the United States.
- More than twice as many EVs sold cumulatively in China compared to the United States. 421,000 of the 425,000 electric buses worldwide are on Chinese roads.
Contact: Alex Adams | 202.461.2374 | aadams@secureenergy.org
About SAFE
SAFE enhances the nation’s energy security and supports our economic resurgence and resiliency, by advancing transformative transportation and mobility technologies and ensuring that the United States secures key aspects of the technology supply chain to achieve and maintain our strategic advantage.
In partnership with the Electrification Coalition, SAFE’s sister organization, we work with consumers, businesses, and policymakers, to launch award-winning “real-world” programs and enable the needed polices to accelerate transportation electrification around the country to reduce our Nation’s dependence on oil.
