Adamas Intelligence reported today that following a towering fourth quarter, 2021 saw a record 286.2 GWh of passenger EV battery capacity deployed onto roads globally, a remarkable 113% increase over 2020 as EV sales, especially battery electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle sales, surged year-over-year…By cell supplier, Chinese juggernaut Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. (CATL) took the lead in 2021 with a record 87.8 GWh deployed onto roads globally (31% of the global total), a towering 204% increase over 2020 on the back of an ever-broadening book of supply agreements with Chinese, European and North American automakers, the consultancy said…Further, South Korea’s LG Energy Solution claimed a second place with a record 63.5 GWh deployed onto roads globally (22% of the global total), up 72% over 2020 thanks in large part to Tesla in China, plus a handful of European and North American automakers…In 2021, Tesla alone was responsible for 23% of all passenger EV battery capacity deployed onto roads globally, down slightly from 26% in 2020, Adamas noted…The global EV battery sector consumes a growing amount of mineral commodities, with lithium, nickel and cobalt being the key metals used to make EV batteries…According to the International Energy Agency, at least 30 times as much lithium, nickel, cobalt and other key minerals may be required by the electric car industry by 2040 to meet global climate targets.

Glencore Plc agreed to an offtake deal with Missouri Cobalt LLC, giving the world’s biggest commodity trader more exposure to the crucial battery ingredient…The agreement follows a steep rise in the price of battery metals over the past year amid surging sales of electric vehicles. The spike in costs has threatened carmakers’ margins, while rising demand has sparked fears of a shortage of mined raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel…Glencore will buy all of Missouri Cobalt’s production of those three metals, the trading house said Wednesday in a statement. It gave no details of the offtake terms, saying only there’s “significant embedded pre-payment.” It also said the two companies will explore other joint opportunities, including recycling…Glencore, already the leading cobalt producer from its mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has struck a series of deals in recent weeks to secure more metals by recycling old batteries…Missouri Cobalt, which operates the Madison mine in the U.S. state, said in a separate statement that it was changing its name to United States Strategic Metals LLC. 

Diversified mining and marketing company Glencore has entered a strategic global marketing relationship with United States Strategic Metals, formerly Missouri Cobalt…Involved is a long-term offtake agreement for 100% of the US company’s products, which include cobalt and nickel sulphates, lithium products and copper cathode…Significant embedded prepayment forms part of the deal, which includes both companies also exploring other commercial arrangements relating to recycling and raw materials sourcing to underpin the ramp-up of a hydrometallurgical processing facility being developed by US Strategic Metals. As a vertically integrated cobalt and nickel producer, US Strategic Metals is described as being positioned to supply “clean, domestic and ethically sourced battery metals” required to meet the demand for electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries…The North American company is reportedly in the final stages of constructing a proprietary hydrometallurgical processing facility which will allow it to begin production of large-scale quantities of battery-grade products, starting in the third quarter of this year, Glencore stated in a media release to Mining Weekly…Glencore US cobalt marketing Ash Lazenby stated in the release that Glencore would be supporting US Strategic Metals towards becoming a leading domestic supplier of battery metals critical to combating climate change and realising the energy transition…Additionally, proceeds from prepayment would allow US Strategic Metals to accelerate the construction and commissioning of its hydrometallurgical processing facility, said Hastie.

The US postal service (USPS) is facing the mounting fury of the Biden administration, Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups over its plan to spend billions of dollars on a new fleet of gasoline-powered mail delivery trucks that critics say will upend a White House goal to slash planet-heating gases…The USPS has outlined plans to spend $11.3bn on as many as 165,000 new delivery trucks over the next decade to refresh what is one of the largest civilian vehicle fleets in the world…A full 90% of the fleet, however, will have traditional gas-powered engines, with just 10% being electric. While the new trucks will come with air conditioning, this means their fuel efficiency will be strikingly poor at just 8.2 miles per gallon (3.56 km per litre)…This is worse than all of the most popular gas-hungry trucks currently on sale in the US and is even less efficient than the original Hummer, a vehicle infamous for the vast amount of fuel it burned through…The postal service’s truck contract with Oshkosh Corporation, a Wisconsin-based defence contractor, has sparked uproar within a Biden administration that has set a goal for the federal government to get to net zero emissions by 2050 in order to tackle the climate crisis…The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has written to the USPS to complain that the new truck contract is “seriously deficient” in its appreciation of climate concerns. “The postal service’s proposal as currently crafted represents a crucial lost opportunity to more rapidly reduce the carbon footprint of one of the largest government fleets in the world,” wrote Vicki Arroyo, the EPA’s associate administrator for policy…Some commercial delivery operators have started to look closely at electric trucks to meet corporate climate goals and realize the cost savings of running vehicles that generally require less maintenance, and run on cheaper fuel, than the traditional gas option. Amazon, for example, has ordered 100,000 electric trucks from the electric vehicle company Rivian…The controversy has heightened Democratic calls for the removal of DeJoy, a major donor to Donald Trump who has remained in his post following the previous president’s election loss. The USPS board of governors, which Biden controls appointments to, holds the power to fire postmaster generals.

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. will re-enter the Japanese passenger car market this year, 12 years after leaving the market dominated by domestic carmakers, betting on demand for its eco-friendly cars…Hyundai Mobility Japan Co. will start taking orders for the IONIQ 5 electric vehicle and NEXO fuel cell vehicle from May for delivery beginning in July…The plan, announced Tuesday, marks Hyundai's first passenger car sales in the world's third-largest automobile market since pulling the plug in December 2009, citing poor sales. The South Korean carmaker has since sold buses in Japan…The IONIQ 5 is equipped with a high-capacity battery and can run 618 kilometers on a single charge, according to the Japanese subsidiary. The EVs will be priced at between 4.79 million yen ($41,500) and 5.89 million yen…The hydrogen-powered NEXO, which will cost 7.76 million yen, can travel around 820 km without refueling.