Tired of getting into circular arguments with die-hard fossil fuel supporters about the 'unsustainability' and fake greenness of electric vehicles (EVs) I decided to do a little research. Some key findings for your own conversations and debates! EVs do indeed have an environmental footprint. According to a landmark International Energy Agency report
an electric vehicle requires roughly "six times" more critical minerals (such as copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt) to manufacture than a conventional car. This is where the lazy and half-ignorant usually stop their rant, happy that they have demolished the EV idea once and for all. They do not realize that this mineral use is microscopic - 300 to 400 times less - the size of a football, compared to the sheer volume of fuel a gas car consumes over its lifetime! Not to mention the energy wasted (and some other little issues) to get that amount of fuel from some exotic oil field to the gas station near you, the "Well-to-Wheel" calculation. And, not to mention - the ultimate humiliation for the conventional car - the low thermal efficiency of petrol engine: it wastes roughly 70% to 80% of the gasoline's energy, compared to 15% energy wasted by the electric engine. And, as Basil Fawlty put it, "Don't Mention the War".
So, although EVs are not a panacea in terms of reducing the impact of daily commuting, we also need hybrid and remote work and free or subsidized public transport, they are paramount in combating climate change. Passenger cars and vans consume around 25 million barrels of oil daily, which is a quarter of global oil consumption, and generate a large share of the profits and the political influence of our beloved Oil Multinationals. It's simple math: phasing out petrol from the automobile sector significantly reduces demand for oil. Following the example of Norway, ironically a major fossil fuel exporter, which legislated that all new passenger cars and light vans sold had to be zero-emission by 2025, many countries have legislated or pledged similar transitions by 2040. Among them are the EU, the UK, Canada and the State of California which have set 2035 as the deadline. Hopefully a new climate friendly US Administration after 2028 will help speed up the global transition. China, the world's largest EV market with new models emerging monthly and a major exporter of many critical minerals, does not plan to ban internal combustion engines but aggressively pushes EVs through incentives. However, the island province of Hainan, a major Chinese tourism destination, plans to ban the sale of new petrol cars in 2030.
In the meantime EVs certainly need to become a lot greener and many relevant efforts and breakthroughs are underway. These include the use of Sodium-Ion Batteries (Na-ion) a common mineral found in sea-water, which can eliminate the need to extract cobalt, nickel, and lithium. Batteries can also be reused as storage banks for the grid or data centres, and as fast-charging buffers for charging stations. Most importantly new research looks into how they can be regenerated ('direct recycling') using targeted chemical processes.
Of course, all of the above require peace and international collaboration NOT wars and trade wars! There, I did mention the War, Basil.
