Economics

Best-Performing Battery Metal of the Past Year Isn't Cobalt

  • Vanadium is rocketing during a buying spree in China
  • Grid-scale batteries for renewables could drive further gains
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A metal that’s in demand for batteries is surging, and it’s not the one everyone’s talking about.

Vanadium has soared more than 130 percent in the past year, outperforming better-known battery components like cobalt, lithium and nickel. It’s an obscure metal, silvery-blue in color and named for Vanadis, the Nordic goddess of beauty.