The incredibly shaky foundation of the world’s electric driving future
London — The cars of the future will depend increasingly upon supplies of an obscure metal from a country in the African tropics where there has never been a peaceful transition of power and child labour is still used in parts of the mining industry. Most major car makers are pledging to build millions of electric vehicles as the world’s governments crack down on climate-damaging emissions from traditional-fuel engines. As a result, demand is surging for lithium-ion batteries and the materials needed to make them — including cobalt, a relatively rare substance found mostly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country formerly known as Zaire — which hosted boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman for their 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight title bout — supplies 63% of the world’s cobalt. Congo’s market share may jump to 73% by 2025 as producers like Glencore expand mines, according to Wood Mackenzie. By 2030, global demand could be 47 times more than it was last year, Bloombe...
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