Resumen de The Tesla effect: : one year on
Musk scrapped his patents to encourage competitors to enter the market and encourage EV penetration into the automobile industry, justifying his decision on the premise that a rising tide lifts all boats. In 2014, Chinese automobile manufacturer BYD announced that it would build a battery factory similar to Tesla's but on the Asian subcontinent. Both were joined by battery maker Boston Power, which is targeting its own Gigafactory-type facility. Although Tesla's name is most associated with the concept, it could now be one of three large scale plants vying for the world's battery minerals supply.
"Right now, the demonstrations are being done to determine whether lithium batteries are cost-effective in grid energy storage use. The answer is down to battery life. If battery life is long enough, then the cost of the batteries can be defrayed over a long enough time to justify their use. If not, then the answer will not be 'no', it will only be 'not yet', because battery prices will continue to fall," [Jon Hykawy] continued.
FMC Corp., another US-based lithium producer, said in its investor marketing in December 2013 that "lithium demand growth of 9% CAGR is expected through 2020". It also announced in December 2014 that it will increase global pricing for all grades of lithium carbonate and lithium salts, including lithium hydroxide, pharmaceutical carbonate and specialty salts by 10%.
