Lithium Auto Care is a rising Utah company formulating top-notch interior and exterior auto care products. They also run an excellent Detail Lab and store, operated in Sandy, Utah by great people. 

Origins

Owner Bill Crawley’s auto-care journey started in high school. Of course his main goal was to impress girls with his shiny cars. During his college years, he started marketing a successful car wax, selling 1000 tubes per month. 

With a chemist’s help, Bill discovered that most carnauba waxes were emulsified with solvents that flash—turn white and harden. After some experimentation, he discovered that using avocado oil as an emulsifier provided a stable result. Even better, his AutoDerm wax corrected oxidation and rehydrated the single-stage paint jobs that were common at the time. The result was an incredible shine.

After taking a break to develop outdoor products, Bill got back into auto detailing about six years ago, forming Lithium Elixirs. The new lineup includes several effective products for both professional detailers and individuals. The product range is expanding, with graphene-infused coatings introduced this year and a do-it-yourself ceramic coating on the horizon. 

Lithium Detail Lab 

The Lithium Detail Lab was added in March, 2023. Its original purpose was to bring in more vehicles to photograph. However, its services, especially ceramic coatings, became worthwhile revenue generators. 

Ceramic coating includes paint correction: adding a layer over the clear coat to eliminate most scratches and scrapes. This layer also makes the car much easier to clean and shine, and should last five years.

My 2017 Subaru WRX STi recently benefited from a Lithium exterior/interior detail, minus the ceramic coating, and I was quite impressed. The car looked amazing inside and the pearl tri-color paint job glowed.

I quickly subjected the STi to a rallycross event parking area, where the breeze made sure it got absolutely coated in fine dirt. Then I drove it 300 miles and let the bugs do their worst. I’m happy to report that the Detail Lab coatings made it relatively easy to get the bugs and dirt off and restore the shine. 

Lithium Auto Care Products

Lithium offers many effective products for cars, off-road vehicles, and motorcycles. For instance, their “Inner Space” interior detailer adds UV protection, aiming for a natural, rather than shiny, look. It was named “The Best Interior Spray” by the 2021 Detailing Product Awards. 

New G-Series products are graphene-infused, protecting vehicles against dirt, grime, UV rays and more while making them shine. Formulated initially for powersports, they help keep mud and dirt from sticking to ATVs and dirt bikes and damaging finishes. G-Series “Avalanche” was formulated to keep snowmobiles from being weighed down by collected ice and snow. It works great on cars too. 

After telling Bill how I hate scrubbing bugs, he encouraged me to try Avalanche as a drying and polishing agent on my cars. Bug removal is now much easier, even after baking in the sun. It worked wonders on my Miata after it ate so many bugs driving to a recent track day that my daughter started calling it “the grasshopper trap.” Fortunately, the Avalanche coating allowed me to knock all bug guts off with a high-pressure wand—no real scrubbing—at a local car wash. 
After telling Bill how I hate scrubbing bugs, he encouraged me to try Avalanche as a drying and polishing agent on my cars. Bug removal is now much easier, even after baking in the sun. It worked wonders on my Miata after it ate so many bugs driving to a recent track day that my daughter started calling it “the grasshopper trap.” Fortunately, the Avalanche coating allowed me to knock all bug guts off with a high-pressure wand—no real scrubbing—at a local car wash. 

The forthcoming G-Series “Mud Slide” aims to make plastics last longer and resist dirt on off-road vehicles. One desert rider using Mud Slide reported notably less mud and dirt sticking to his boots and fenders compared to his son’s untreated bike.

Lithium Trim Restoration

Many of us are familiar with plastic trims that start black, but fade and whiten over time. Well, G-Series “Graphene Infused Trim Restoration Cubes” solve that problem, maybe permanently. 

One YouTube influencer was understandably skeptical about Lithium’s claim that these cubes “permanently restore and protect all plastic trim to a factory-new look.” Accordingly, he treated half of a plastic bumper step-cover and washed it 1450 times! The treated side still looked new, impressing him so much that he sent the piece to Lithium.   

Going Forward

Bill says that Lithium Auto Care aims to be the absolute best at what they do. They plan to continue creating innovative products that are outside the norm of what existing stuff does and that they can be proud of. 

I’ve really appreciated the Lithium products and services that I’ve tried, and believe they will benefit you and your vehicles as well. 

© 2024, R Bairett