Lithium is mined, not made, which puts some limitations on manufacturing electric vehicles. Now Germany has discovered huge lithium deposits under the Rhine — enough to build 400 million EVs. Here’s more from SlashGear:

The lithium is in a molten state and is trapped inside underground springs of boiling water thousands of meters below the Rhine River. If the estimates of the size of the lithium deposit are accurate, it would be one of the world’s biggest deposits. If the material can be successfully mined, it would reduce the reliance of Germany on imported lithium, and early talks are already underway with automotive manufacturers.

Authorities wanting to mine the critical material are concerned about possible local opposition to mining operations. So far, most lithium deposits have been located in remote areas of Australia or South America, where there is little population to oppose mining operations. Vulcan Energy Resources plans to invest about $2 billion to build geothermal power stations and facilities to extract lithium.

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