Mike Beck: EV Adoption Will Only Continue To Accelerate
Mike feels the adoption of electric vehicles is occurring near the expected rate. There will be a point where adoption will move exponentially when E.V. price parity is matched to regular cars. Battery prices have gone from $1200 per kW/h to below $200. Many analysts feel that when we hit $100 will be the point at which electric vehicles become cheaper. Mike says, “At that point, no rational consumer would buy an ICE based car.” There will be a hockey swing style change in adoption by 2025; estimates are that 15% to 20% of all new passenger vehicles will be electric.
We are heading towards a global shortage of nickel, and battery chemistry changes will only accelerate the crunch. Nickel is his favorite battery metal for the next two to three years as the industry has underinvested. Nickel mines require seven to ten years to bring online. Nickel is expected to be in structural deficit by 2022, and this will be a perfect storm.
While uranium has a favorable supply-demand outlook, they have not seen the necessary catalyst in the mid-term horizon for uranium. The last bull market move for uranium from 10 to 160 was a bit of a surprise to the upside. The same thing could happen with nickel, especially considering the entirely new market demand from batteries. They have positioned themselves for optimal exposure to nickel in British Columbia. Their thesis is that nickel equity prices will be leverage based on the amount available at a potential mine.
Time Stamp References:
0:50 – Early adoption stage of EV.
2:00 – Cost parity is coming.
4:00 – Hockey stick adoption curve by 2025.
4:45 – Nickel shortage is looming.
5:45 – Nickel supply will be slow to recover.
7:30 – Uranium outlook.
9:00 – Nickel demand picture is changing.
11:15 – Uranium is missing a catalyst.
13:30 – Optimistic about copper.
Talking Points From This Week’s Episode
• Price parity of EV is getting close to gas cars.
• EV needs will create massive demand for battery metals.
• Mike believes battery metals companies will make excellent investments.
• These things tend to turn faster than people anticipate.
• E.V. growth will also impact copper demand.
Mike Beck is the founder and Managing Director of Regent Advisors LLC, a corporate finance advisory and investment firm. He has advised on equity and debt financings for private and public companies in the natural resources sector, including Signet Petroleum Limited, West African Minerals Corporation, Polo Resources Limited, Direct Petroleum Exploration Inc., Titanium Resources Group, Copper Development Corporation, UraMin Inc., Diamond Fields International Ltd., Weda Bay Minerals Inc., Regent Pacific Group Limited and CCEC Ltd.
Mr. Beck was a Managing Director at N M Rothschild & Sons with responsibility for the firm’s mining, oil and gas advisory and investment activities. Prior to that, Mr. Beck was the founder and President of Librion Group Inc., a corporate finance boutique. He also was with the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group, where he oversaw the structuring and financing of a large number of natural resource projects in Africa. Mr. Beck has also been a founder or co-founder of several companies listed on the Canadian, Australian, and London stock exchanges. He has an M.S. in Engineering from Princeton University and a B.S. (High Honors) in Engineering from Rutgers University.