Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is building electric cars. So are General Motors, Nissan, and even Volvo! And what all these electric cars will have in common is that they use lithium batteries to power their motors.
The age of the lithium ion battery is upon us, and so naturally investors are swarming all over lithium stocks. But here's something you may not have realized: Lithium comprises only about 14% of the mass of a Tesla automotive "2170" battery cell. It turns out cobalt mining is just as important to the production of Tesla's Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (NCA) batteries as is lithium. (And other forms of lithium ion batteries use as much as 60% cobalt!)
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Source: Fool.com