Auto makers are trying to power their motorcars with batteries

In order to shift from gasoline to electricity, it is necessary to realize that most of the lithium needed to make the batteries for those cars is apparently located in Bolivia.

Small, impoverished Bolivia, in fact, is the home to approximately half the world's lithium supply. The largest known single deposit of lithium lies in the waters below the Salar de Uyuni, a 4,085-square mile (10,582 square kilometer) salt desert in the southern Potosi region that is also one of Bolivia's biggest tourist attractions. The problem: President Evo Morales prides himself on state control over natural resources.

Morales nationalized Bolivia's massive natural gas reserves in 2006 and now sees a chance at even greater riches. Many foreign car makers have already discovered that buying cheap raw materials from Bolivia for their cars is no longer possible.

Mining analysts estimate that demand for lithium could exceed the supply within a decade. As a result, the Bolivian government says, representatives from companies, including Mitsubishi and Toyota, have approached the Morales administration to get in at the beginning of the process. So far, they've been turned away.

Auto companies are accused of simply wanting to carry the raw lithium carbonate away and to process it in other plants; but that is not what Bolivia wants. What they are apparently striving for is a largely, if not purely, state run lithium industry from mining to manufacturing; including, the government hopes, a plant to manufacture lithium-ion batteries.

A $5.7 million pilot plant to process raw lithium carbonate is already under construction on the edge of the Salar, and officials hope it will start production by the end of 2009. Whether there will be enough technical proficiency for producing the lithium-ion batteries is still uncertain.

If you are interested, you may use this link to see more about the chemical element of lithium.