The global lithium industry will need to invest at least $10-12 billion over the next decade to meet the growing demand for plug-in electric vehicles, according to SQM, a Chilean companyDaniel Jimenez, senior vice president of business at SQM, also pointed out that lithium demand is expected to increase by another 600,000 to 800,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent in the next 10 years or so.