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Electric Vehicles (EVs) are the hot new thing. The wealthy and environmentally conscious are racing to purchase sleek electric cars and believe that they are making the world a cleaner place by purchasing them. Electric vehicles have been marketed as the ultimate solution to the carbon production from cars, but the “production of electric cars pollutes more than traditional ICE (internal combustion engine) ones.”
This issue arises from the lithium-ion batteries needed to power EVs, which require intensive mining. Industry forecaster Benchmark Minerals reported that “384 additional graphite, lithium, nickel, and cobalt mines may be needed by 2035 to supply all those new EVs” that the market will demand. Take Tesla, the top EV brand, which plans to produce and sell two million EVs annually by 2023 and twenty million annually by 2030. Tesla’s supply chain alone would require twice the current annual production of battery minerals, and that is without considering all the market entrants that are producing EVs. There are just not enough rare earth metals on the planet to fulfill the utopian dream of everyone in the world driving an EV.
Furthermore, the lack of human rights and child labor conditions in cobalt mines to fuel EVs is appalling. The Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, houses a number of mines that source minerals to companies that produce EVs. These mines have been reported to have slave-like conditions and a number of human rights are violated. While some companies, like Tesla, have switched suppliers to mines in Asia to uphold supply standards, the human rights abuses in many mines continue to be unresolved. Unless billions and billions of dollars are invested into transforming the mining system (ESG-related investments) in the coming years, there is no way that mining for these minerals will allow us to reach our climate change mitigation and human rights goals.
It is also essential to highlight that China, Japan, and Korea control most of the global supply of these minerals, and their reach is expanding as they are increasingly controlling African mines. “Tesla today buys 85% of their inputs from China or China-controlled supply chains,” and this places political relationships as a central factor in the production of EVs. While the United States has looked to secure minerals from mines in North America, the supply is not merely enough.
So, how can we ensure an adequate supply of minerals? We cannot. Digging new mines is not only expensive and intensive but also incredibly harmful to the environment because of the groundwater pollution, excessive water use, destruction of wildlife habitats, damage to topsoil, harmful runoff from chemicals, and pollution from tailings — the residual materials left after valuable metals have been removed.
It is time to let go of the electric vehicle fantasy. They are not the solution. Although the best alternative would be to optimize public transportation so people do not have cars at all, the reality is that billions of people still feel the need to own a car. Therefore, the solution might come with hydrogen cars.
Hydrogen fuel technologies have been around since the 1800s, and hydrogen is a viable alternative to gas vehicles because it can be pumped just like petrol and diesel using the existing network of petrol stations. Another advantage to transitioning to hydrogen vehicles is the reduced charging time. An EV might require 8 hours to charge, while hydrogen vehicles only require a few minutes. This advantage can open up the opportunity for hydrogen vehicles to be used for large-scale public transportation services, as well as for the private market.
Sources:
Electric Cars Are Not The Solution, They’re The Beginning Of The Next Problem
Dig This: The Shift To EVs Requires A Massive Expansion Of Battery Metal Mining
The hydrogen revolution: An alternative to electric vehicles?
‘Like slave and master’: DRC miners toil for 30p an hour to fuel electric cars
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