This has been suggested as another put down of EVs.  The facts however are pretty clear about the global reserves of lithium and recent studies suggest supplies of Lithium are more than adequate to power the global fleet till at least the end of this century (see Global Lithium Availability: A Constraint for Electric Vehicles – University of Michigan 2010).  Bear in mind that the global resource estimates are more than 38 million tonnes.  It is also estimated that seawater contains 230 billion tonnes.  A South Korean company (POSCO) has develeoped technology to extract lithium from seawater.  Lithium is also recyclable and EV manufacturers such as Tesla and Ford have already implemented recycling for their battery packs.  See our page on batteries for more information.