Lithium doesn’t grow on trees.
Sulfur batteries are cheap and they are getting close to the recharge ability and energy storage of lithium. In a few years, we might be able to start phasing out lithium.
...and Tesla will be “raping” Mother Earth to obtain the lithium, aluminum, etc to build the cars.
Add the fact more “raping” to build the power plants to generate the electricity to power the cars.
Do these idiots realize their own hypocrisy?
/rhetorical
Although lithium is widely distributed on Earth, it does not naturally occur in elemental form due to its high reactivity. The total lithium content of seawater is very large and is estimated as 230 billion tonnes, where the element exists at a relatively constant concentration of 0.14 to 0.25 parts per million (ppm), or 25 micromolar; higher concentrations approaching 7 ppm are found near hydrothermal vents.
Estimates for the Earth's crustal content range from 20 to 70 ppm by weight. In keeping with its name, lithium forms a minor part of igneous rocks, with the largest concentrations in granites. Granitic pegmatites also provide the greatest abundance of lithium-containing minerals, with spodumene and petalite being the most commercially viable sources. Another significant mineral of lithium is lepidolite. A newer source for lithium is hectorite clay, the only active development of which is through the Western Lithium Corporation in the United States. At 20 mg lithium per kg of Earth's crust, lithium is the 25th most abundant element....
One of the largest reserve base of lithium is in the Salar de Uyuni area of Bolivia, which has 5.4 million tonnes. US Geological Survey, estimates that in 2010 Chile had the largest reserves by far (7.5 million tonnes) and the highest annual production (8,800 tonnes). Other major suppliers include Australia, Argentina and China.
In June 2010, the New York Times reported that American geologists were conducting ground surveys on dry salt lakes in western Afghanistan believing that large deposits of lithium are located there.