Exxon backs EV demand growth to turn its lithium bet into a win

Exxon Mobil said lithium demand will grow despite a years-long slump in prices, a scenario that would help its traditional oil business co-exist with a foray into producing the battery material that’s key for electric vehicles. “What we’re seeing right now in lithium is the sentiment is bearish,” Patrick Howarth, Exxon’s lithium global business manager, said in an interview on the sidelines of an industry conference in Las Vegas. “But underlying that is a demand growth story for EVs and the lithium-ion batteries that go into EVs,” he said, adding “we know the world urgently needs significantly more lithium than it’s producing today.”