In one of the biggest automotive recalls in history, General Motors has informed 141,000 owners of Chevrolet Bolt electric cars that they have to bring their cars in to have their batteries replaced.

Due to the upcoming increase in the number of cars that use batteries, lithium is poised to increase in value over the next half century.

Just to review . . .

When demand increases for a material that is in limited supply, the value of that material increases. The more the demand increases and the more limited the supply, the more the value increases. It’s the old law of supply and demand.

BMW, General Motors, and all major car makers are marketing electric and hybrid cars that use batteries. Tesla and Panasonic are selling back-up batteries for use in homes and commercial buildings. We are entering the age of the battery. Does that increasing battery production mean that this is a great time to start buying up scrapped batteries and recycling them? The answers to that question are surprising. Here are some things you need to know...

Someone called one of our expert consultants at 800-426-2344 last week and asked, “Is lithium a precious metal?” He had a lot of old printed-circuit boards that had batteries attached to them and was wondering if he would get paid for the lithium that they contained if he sent them in to be recycled.