Electric vehicle (EV) stocks have been all the rage for a few years now, and for good reason. Various estimates point to new vehicle sales consisting of nearly 50% EVs by 2030 -- up from a roughly 14% estimate of all new vehicle sales being an EV in 2022. If all those new EVs are indeed manufactured in the next eight years, the global supply of lithium will need to balloon.

That's where top lithium producer Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) comes in. What started as my small investment in an attempt to hedge against some inflation risk in 2022 has turned into one of my larger holdings here at the start of 2023. Albemarle just released its growth targets for the next five years, and if management's goals are attainable, this could be one cheap stock right now.

Lithium has become a hidden but commonplace material in our daily lives. It's already the base element that stores energy in lithium-ion batteries in our smartphones, tablets, and laptops. But a battery for an EV, and especially energy grid batteries (which store energy from solar, wind, and excess power from fossil fuel facilities for later use), are exponentially larger. Many of these batteries, like the ones for EVs, will also require new technology and higher-grade lithium to make an electric vehicle a viable alternative to traditional internal combustion engines. 

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Source Fool.com