By Frik Els Spiking cobalt and lithium demand from booming sales of electric vehicles grabs all the headlines, partly thanks to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s propensity to make news, but another battery metal has actually experienced more action this year. Vanadium is primarily used to strengthen steel (today it makes up more than 90% of the market) and prices for ferro-vanadium hit decade highs this month. Vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) which makes its way into so-called vanadium redox flow batteries used in energy storage systems breached $20 a pound for the first time since 2005 this month.