While electric vehicles (EVs) promise reduced emissions during operation, their manufacturing process carries significant environmental impacts that merit careful consideration. The push for widespread EV adoption, including recent U.S. mandates, brings several environmental challenges that extend beyond the vehicles’ operational benefits.

Without even getting into the carbon footprint, there is a very real, very critical reason why EVs can’t do a dent of global carbon emission : cars represent less than 10% of global emissions. Yet to find the 50 or so critical metals necessary to power electrical vehicules, the US alone would need a mobilisation of resources larger than the Second World War effort by an order of magnitude. Unfortunately, those critical metalsare poised to come very short. As is often the case with the energy transition, this is another case of displacing fossil fuels depence for mining. All that for a higher carbon footprint.

Impact of Mineral Extraction

The production of EV batteries requires extensive mining of critical minerals, particularly lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements. A typical EV battery needs about 8-10 kg of lithium, 14 kg of cobalt, and 35 kg of nickel. All in all, this battery is typically around 1000 pounds of over 100 minerals, each requiring digging up over 500,000 pounds of dirt into the ground. In order to meet the demand resulting by mandated government targets for EV, demand for cobalt and lithum would have to rise by 500% by 2050.

In the U.K alone, meeting the national 2050 electric car targets would require nearly double the current global cobalt production, almost all of the world’s neodymium, three-quarters of global lithium, and 12% of annual copper production. Let’s look at another metal : copper. Replacing today’s 1.4 billion internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs) would necessitate over 90 million tons of extra copper over the next 27 years, compared to the 21 million tons extracted for all uses in 2022.

Dr. Richard Herrington is Head of Earth Sciences Department at the Natural History Museum, he has highlighted the environmental degradation caused by mining for EV battery materials:

The metal resource needed to make all cars and vans electric by 2050 and all sales to be purely battery electric by 2035. To replace all UK-based vehicles today with electric vehicles (not including the LGV and HGV fleets), assuming they use the most resource-frugal next-generation NMC 811 batteries, would take 207,900 tonnes cobalt, 264,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate (LCE), at least 7,200 tonnes of neodymium and dysprosium, in addition to 2,362,500 tonnes copper. This represents, just under two times the total annual world cobalt production, nearly the entire world production of neodymium, three quarters the world’s lithium production and 12% of the world’s copper production during 2018. Even ensuring the annual supply of electric vehicles only, from 2035 as pledged, will require the UK to annually import the equivalent of the entire annual cobalt needs of European industry.

Source: Natural History Museum

Even assuming these cars run of clean energy – which will almost certainly never be the case due to scalability challenges for solar and wind power – the average optimal life of a lithum battery is roughly 10 years. Even when ignoring research that suggests energy less of an order of 3% per year, that is much less efficiency that the optimal life of a combustion-engine powered cars. Meanwhile, Cuba is still driving its 1950 Chevrolets. Building a global fleet of electrical cars, even just for passengers cars, is already impossible. Replacing it every ten years is pure fantasy.

Lithium production for EV batteries is highly water-intensive, using about 2 million tonnes of water per tonne of lithium, enough for around 100 car batteries. This has led to water depletion in the South American Lithium Triangle, with Chile using 65% of its water for extraction. In the U.S., the Lithium Americas Project in Nevada faces protests over groundwater usage.

Nickel and cobalt mining also cause environmental issues. In Cuba, mining has led to barren lands and coastal contamination, while the Philippines closed 23 mines due to harm. These challenges aren’t exclusive to EVs, as all portable electronics contribute.

This increased demand has led to:

• Expansion of open-pit mining operations, particularly in South America’s “lithium triangle.”
• Significant water consumption in drought-prone regions, with lithium extraction using approximately 500,000 gallons of water per metric ton.
• Soil and groundwater contamination from mining operations.
• Habitat destruction in ecologically sensitive areas.
• Increased mining waste and tailings that can leak toxic compounds into local ecosystems.

Carbon Footprint of Manufacturing

The production of EV requires a significant increase of mining at a time where exisisting mines are struggling to meet demand. That is top of the fact that this mining needs to be done by heavily equipment that run on oil, carried away by large trucks that run of oil, and carried to energy-intensive plants that are – and will still – be powered by natural gas or coal. Conservatice estimates say new EV produce around 80% more emissions than building a comparable gas-powered car. Conventional wisdom has it that the higher carbon emissions from manufacturing is more than offset by the cleaner emissions of the car for ist entire lifecycle. But this assumes the two types of car have drive the same mileage. Research suggests that average us of an EV is 55,000 miles versus 200,000 for conventional cars.

The production of EVs generally creates a larger initial carbon footprint than conventional vehicles, primarily due to battery manufacturing:

• Battery production alone generates 2-4 tons of CO2 emissions per vehicle.
• The energy-intensive process of mineral refining adds significantly to manufacturing emissions.
• Transportation of raw materials across global supply chains increases the carbon footprint.
• The aluminum and lightweight materials used in EVs require more energy-intensive production processes.

Grid Infrastructure Requirements

The transition to EVs necessitates substantial grid infrastructure upgrades, leading to:

• Additional mining for copper and other metals needed for transmission lines.
• Construction of new power plants and substations.
• Environmental disruption from new utility corridor development.
• Increased demand for rare earth elements used in grid technology.

Recycling Challenges

The growing EV fleet creates new end-of-life waste management challenges:

• Current battery recycling processes are energy-intensive and often inefficient.
• Many recycling facilities release hazardous chemicals and heavy metals.
• The complex nature of EV batteries makes them difficult to disassemble and recycle effectively.
• The sheer volume of future battery waste will require significant new recycling infrastructure.

Expert Opinions and Statistics

According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the production of an EV can emit up to 70% more CO2 than a conventional vehicle. Furthermore, a study conducted by the Swedish Environmental Research Institute indicates that battery production alone is responsible for a significant portion of these emissions.

Experts like Dr. Jonathan Koomey, a lecturer at Stanford University, argue that the environmental benefits of EVs are often overstated. He cites that the energy used in battery production and the subsequent emissions from manufacturing could outweigh the operational emissions savings over the vehicle’s lifetime.

Dr. Richard Herrington from the Natural History Museum emphasizes the environmental degradation caused by mining for battery materials, highlighting the socio-economic impacts on local communities and ecosystems.

While EVs remain crucial for reducing transportation emissions over their lifetime, understanding these environmental trade-offs is essential for developing more sustainable manufacturing processes and implementing effective mitigation strategies. By acknowledging these hidden costs, policymakers and manufacturers can work towards minimizing the environmental impact of EV production, ensuring a truly sustainable transition to electric mobility.

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