Automakers race to lock in lithium for electric car batteriesbr br Threatened by possible shortages of lithium for electric car batteries, automakers are racing to lock in supplies of the once-obscure 'white gold' in a politically and environmentally fraught competition from China to Nevada to Chile. A shortfall in lithium supplies would be an obstacle for government and industry plans to ramp up sales to tens of millions of electric vehicles a year. It is fueling political conflict over resources and complaints about the environmental cost of extracting them.