HC, one quote from your post: "However, behind the sustained prosperity, a storm is brewing. Since 2023, with the noticeable slowdown in the growth of the NEV market and the incremental growth in the energy storage market not meeting previous market expectations, the demand for lithium carbonate in the lithium-ion industry chain has not been realized."

Not trying to be "picky", but when you focus in on the definition of "NEV" it has a separate meaning apart from Hybrid vehicle and BEV electric vehicles.  If we are talking about a slowdown in the growth of NEV electric vehicles then, according to one major interpretation of the term "NEV" essentailly we are talking about electric vehicles with limited speed and limited access to public highways and we are not talking about the BEVs manufactured by Ford, GM, Hyndai, Kia and other major manufactureres designed to travel not only on residential streets but also quite at home on interstate highways.

The NEV designation as applied to vehicles manufactured in China, for instance, may in some contexts apply to what was not long ago over 200 different small EV manufacturers of "Neighborhood Electric Vehicles" with a top speed of 25 mph.  I don't know whether that number of 200 companies making NEVs in China still holds or whether it has increased or decreased, but it should still be substantial.  NEVs have a definite niche market in China where many of those who own NEVs are quite comfortable with the limited range and limited speed of these small vehicles that still manage to transport them quite easily within the confines of a narrow urban environment, but they were never meant for transportation on the more high speed highways in China or in any other nation.

Wikipedia defines NEV as follows: A Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) is a U.S. category for battery electric vehicles that are usually built to have a top speed of 25 miles per hour (40 km/h), and have a maximum loaded weight of 3,000 lb (1,400 kg).[1] Depending on the particular laws of the state, they are legally limited to roads with posted speed limits of 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) or less (in some states 45 mph or less). NEVs fall under the United States Department of Transportation classification for low-speed vehicles.

https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/neighborhood-electric-vehicle-NEV

OK, HC, to be "fair and balanced" the term "NEV" is also used by the journalistic community of autmotive writers to mean:  "New Energy Vehicles" and that is where the fun begins.  Some will use NEV to apply to a broad spectrum of electric vehicles, not just those with range and speed limits that confine them to residential street use only but also to the more familiar (at least in the U.S. and Europe) meaning of the concept of EV to include street legal and highway legal larger BEVs.

In summary, the term "NEV" can apply to two totally different concepts, depending upon the education of the writer in the field of electric vehicles so it is rather ambiguous to the reader unless you know the particular frame of reference of the writer, the one using the term: "NEV".

Having said that NEV in China represents Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, I have to admit that concept is not universal in China either, just as it is not universal anywhere else.  Official news reports about Electric Vehicles in China often also use the term NEV to refer to "New Energy Electric Vehicles" and thus to BEVs not limited to more narrow range and speed parameters that apply to Neighborhood Electric Vehicles.  One of the links below points to the more wider definition of NEV as it applies to China, but keep in mind that there is a large niche market still in China for the narrower meaning of NEV, Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, and China has tons of these small vehicles within the confines of urban neighborhoods.

https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_China-NEV-mandate_policy-update_20180111.pdf

https://electrek.co/2021/10/20/the-cheapest-electric-vehicles-available-in-2021-2022/

I suppose that the article link you provided is using the term "NEV" in the larger since so as to include every facet of electric vehicles and not just "Neighborhood Electric Vehicles".

So, my apology, for inteceding with this whole discussion on NEV, but I felt compelled to mention that the term is imprecise when used alone and without clarification.

OK, enough of that "clarification".  Bottom line is that we are not seeing the same rate of expansion regarding the demand and sale of BEVs that we saw in the previous 2 years and thus lithium demand is currently down from the previous more vigorous rate of growth.  Just as you said.

Onward through the FOG!

Okiedo