We Need Better Batteries to Reach Mass EV Adoption

Chris’ note: The electric vehicle boom is a $57 trillion megatrend. But Casey Research colleague Dave Forest has uncovered a huge problem that could derail this opportunity…

There’s good news, though. A solution is within reach. And those who position themselves in the right companies now stand to make a fortune.

Dave has all the details below – including a story from a cross-country road trip he took in a Tesla.

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Electric vehicles (EVs) are the way of the future.

At Casey Research, we’ve been pounding the table on this megatrend for a while now.

In April of last year, my analyst Andrey Dashkov recommended investing in the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT). It holds 40 companies, including lithium miners, battery makers, and carmakers.

Since then, the index is up 20%. The S&P 500 – a good stand-in for the overall market – is down about 8%.

LIT’s outperformance shows that the EV trend is on a tear despite general market volatility.

That means EVs will reach widespread adoption sooner than most folks think.

U.S. automakers aim for EVs to make up half of all new vehicle sales by 2030.

But there’s a major hurdle to overcome – charging.

Right now, there aren’t enough charging stations to support EVs. And most EV batteries take over an hour to charge.

Luckily, there’s a solution. I’ll tell you all about it below… and share why investors who position themselves now stand to make fortunes as the EV rollout picks up steam.

But first, a boots-on-the-ground story…

Road Trip Nightmare

I drove a Tesla across America with Casey analyst John Pangere. We wanted to experience EVs firsthand.

We hit Atlanta, New Orleans, San Antonio, Santa Fe, Phoenix, and San Diego.

Most of our journey, the Tesla worked great. Charging stations popped up regularly. After a 20- to 40-minute charging stop, we’d be on our way.

But that changed when we left Austin. As we headed into the barrens of West Texas, chargers grew scarce.

Once we got down to 18 miles of charge, I had to pull over and call for help. We finally got a tow truck to pick us up and take us to our hotel in Amarillo.

Loading the Tesla on the tow truck for the final miles to Amarillo, Texas

My experience confirmed that there’s an incredible amount of room for the EV trend to grow.

Key to Mass EV Adoption

As Legacy Research cofounder Doug Casey says, EVs will put an end to the internal combustion engine.

But not with the charging problem in the way.

And it’s not just the lack of chargers. A recent survey in Canada found that potential EV buyers won’t spend more than 20 minutes charging their cars.

The solution is something called solid-state batteries.

They can fully charge in a few minutes. That’s about the same time it takes to fill up at a gas station.

And these batteries have about double the range (number of miles you can drive on a full charge) that current EV batteries do.

They’re also safer and more efficient. They need fewer metals than current EV batteries. That means the cars they power will be cheaper.

And faster charging reduces the risk of batteries catching fire while plugged in.

But there’s an obstacle to using solid-state batteries in EVs.

These batteries need a lot of lithium – a key tech metal.

Tech metals are the raw materials that go into tech. They’re critical to some of the biggest advancements of our lifetime.

Tesla (TSLA) can’t make a single car without lithium. EV batteries need the metal to hold a charge.

And we’re about to face a massive supply shortage.

Supply Crunch

Between the EV rollout and the lithium we use to power other everyday devices like laptops and smartphones… demand for the metal is soaring.

There’s not enough new supply to meet this existing demand.

And battery demand is expected to grow almost 7x by 2030. Lithium demand could grow 40x between now and 2030.

But lithium supply is unlikely to catch up.

There are supply chain issues and a lack of investment in new mines.

At the same time, my colleagues in the mining industry are struggling to find supplies of these tech metals. We mine in only a handful of countries. Many of them, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Argentina, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, aren’t very stable.

We can’t solve that sort of problem overnight. And it takes years to bring new mines online.

S&P Global forecasts the lithium market will be in a deficit until 2030.

That’s great for the lithium price. In the last 12 months alone, it soared 434%. And that’s just the beginning of this rally.

As the scale of EV adoption outstrips supply… that will put a lot more upward pressure on the lithium price.

How to Profit

You can start by investing in an ETF (exchange-traded fund) that holds a diverse portfolio of lithium mining companies.

A good one is the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT) I mentioned up top.

Just remember to never bet more than you can afford to lose.

And if you want an even better way to play this trend…

After the road trip fiasco in Texas, I started researching the solutions to the EV charging problem. And I found some innovative companies leading the way.

I put together this briefing on the best ones.

Keep walking the path,

David Forest
Editor, Strategic Investor