Lithium Prices Surge to Record High, Threatening to Push Up Expensive EV Costs Even Higher

Workers at a factory for Xinwangda Electric Vehicle Battery Co. Ltd., which makes lithium batteries for electric cars and other uses, in Nanjing in China's eastern Jiangsu Province, on March 12, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The price of lithium carbonate, the key material used to make electric car batteries, has continued to skyrocket, tripling in the past year.

The valuable mineral is mainly processed in communist China, which has a monopoly on the battery market.