Lithium, the mineral needed to power electric and hybrid vehicles, is found in great quantity in Bolivia. In fact, Bolivia is home to nearly half of the world supply of lithium. However, Bolivia's government is intent on keeping foreigners from exploiting their lithium by keeping control and profits local. The New York Times reports.
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This NYT piece is not comprehensive. The lithium supply problem is actually a can of worms. Batteries required to power laptop computers are orders of magnitude less than those for millions of cars. Only many millions will make a difference.
If I was running Bolivia, I would not allow the export of lithium. I would require anyone wanting the lithium to set up factories to produce the batteries in Bolivia. That way jobs would be created not only in the mining of lithium but in the manufacture of the batteries. And increase the value of the exports for Bolivia. This would be a win/win/win for the people of Bolivia.