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Fully Charged Discusses Battery Shortages and the Conclusion is Not Encouraging

Apart from the circles in which people think you can save the world just by buying a car powered by batteries, some folks are baking their noodles, trying to figure out how to make that truly possible. The demand increase raised raw material prices to record levels, which will hold back EV adoption if nothing is done to solve the issue. Fully Charged investigated that, and the conclusion is not very encouraging.
There's a shortage in raw materials for battery packs and the answer for that is not easy 7 photos
Photo: Volkswagen
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Imogen Pierce interviewed many people dealing with that demand increase, and the only answer to getting more electric cars at lower prices is to mine a lot more than we currently do. Another solution is making batteries more energy-dense, which she discussed with her husband, Karandeep Singh Bhogal. He is the chief programs officer (CPO) at Nexeon, a company trying to replace graphite with silicon in anodes to increase energy density.

Even if that goes well, these batteries will need lithium, copper, manganese, cobalt, aluminum, iron, and other raw materials that the current production chain cannot supply. We’ll need more mines, which may take 20 to 25 years to start operating. Recycling is not an option because there are not enough cells for all the new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) that the world is expected to need by 2030 or even further ahead.

Pierce discussed this scenario with Jessica Roberts. The Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s head of forecasting stressed the need for new mines but also said something pretty controversial. According to Roberts, there are enough raw materials for the electric shift on personal transportation, but some differ.

According to a report from the Geological Survey of Finland, the world may have enough lithium and nickel to make batteries, but the known cobalt reserves are insufficient. What about copper, which is needed to make wires, motors, solar panels, wind turbines, and a multitude of electric components? According to a Deutsche Welle documentary that is no longer online, a copper mine was accused in Chile of generating carcinogenic powder that is killing the local population. Healthy people such as Fernando Andrés Lillo Jerez died of lung cancer without a reasonable explanation for that.

The Geological Survey of Finland concluded that “replacing the existing fossil fuel-powered system (oil, gas, and coal), using renewable technologies, such as solar panels or wind turbines, will not be possible for the entire global human population. There is simply just not enough time, nor resources to do this by the current target set by the World’s most influential nations.”

That said, “existing renewable energy sectors and the EV technology systems are merely steppings tones to something else, rather than the final solution.” The Geological Survey of Finland believes it to be “a significant reduction of societal demand for all resources, of all kinds. This implies a very different social contract and a radically different system of governance to what is in place today.” That said, fixing battery shortages may just postpone a real solution for the concerns the EV revolution was designed to solve.

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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
Gustavo Henrique Ruffo profile photo

Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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