Eye on Lithium: Inaugural EV summit puts fuel efficiency standards back on the table

• The Federal Government is looking to build a national strategy for EVs 
• Measures like fuel efficiency standards will be included, something at least 80% of the global car market already have
• AM7 receives positive mineralogical and processing results from the Bitterwasser Lithium-in-Brines and Lithium-in-Clays Project

All your ASX lithium news for Friday, August 19.

Politicians, industry representatives and community leaders are meeting at the inaugural electric vehicle summit in Canberra today to discuss how to accelerate Australia’s shift to cleaner transport and uptake of electric vehicles.

Speakers at the summit, co-founded by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, include Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, federal independent cross-benchers, state and territory leaders, motoring industry figures and union representatives.

The government is attempting to build a national strategy for EVs with measures like fuel efficiency standards, which would set an emissions target for auto manufacturers averaged across all the cars they sell.

Minister ⁦@Bowenchris⁩ outlines electric vehicle unaffordability in Australia to date is direct result of government policy failure over our last lost decade compared to the rest of the world #evsummit pic.twitter.com/LbB81zwf22

— Mark Bailey MP (@MarkBaileyMP) August 18, 2022

Excerpts of Bowen’s speech released to media before the event said the strategy would aim to improve affordability and choice by expanding the local EV market.

Only 2% of new cars sold in Australia last year were low-emissions vehicles, compared with 9% globally.

In an interview with the ABC, the Australian head of Volkswagen, Michael Bartsch, said despite Australians wanting electric VWs, the company’s head office in Germany would not agree to send any here.

“We still allow manufacturers to dump and sell in Australia dirty, old technology,” Bartsh said.

“And while they can do that, you have a disincentive commercially to actually bringing in electric vehicles, because the profit that is being made for internal combustion engine vehicles is simply too high.”

Greenpeace says without strong emissions standards in place, the new vehicles introduced to the Australian market are not required to meet international standards – meaning manufacturers can offload lower quality, more polluting stock that other markets will not accept, costing Australians financially, impacting our health and driving up our emissions.

At least 80% of the global car market already have vehicle emissions standards, leaving Australia at the back of the pack alongside Russia, Indonesia and Turkey.

According to reports, the Labour government will release a discussion paper on its proposed National Electric Vehicle strategy next month.

Here’s how ASX lithium stocks were tracking today:

A surprisingly good end to a somewhat dreadful week for ASX lithium companies – 54 gained some today, 52 fell flat and only 25 ended in red territory.

Who’s got news out?

ARCADIA MINEARLS (ASX:AM7)

This diversified exploration company is targeting tantalum, lithium, nickel, copper and gold across its four projects in Namibia.

Positive mineralogical and processing results have been returned from the Bitterwasser Lithium-in-Brines and Lithium-in-Clays Project where +85% of contained lithium reports to <10μ particle sizes.

Other highlights include 78% of Bitterwasser ore reports at particle sizes of <10μ, indicating a grade increase of 28% in feedstock and overall lithium recoveries of 89.6%.

Arcadia CEO Philip le Reoux said the company is encouraged by these unprecedented particle size distribution results confirming that undemanding cyclones could offer a viable option to increase Bitterwasser clay grades before leaching takes place.

“An additional boost to our confidence in the project’s potential economic possibilities comes from the University of Stellenbosch’s leach results, which confirmed that industry standard recoveries can be achieved by using potentially lowcost and environmentally friendly organic acids,” le Roux explains.

“This forecasts well for our ambitions to establish Bitterwasser as a potential environmentally friendly source of lithium and the globe’s next economic lithium-bearing mineral province.

“We are looking forward to improved results on leaching results with optimisation measures with the second phase of test work on post-cyclone feedstock.”