Cost of EV Batteries

The new Bugatti convertible is $5 million and is sold out, same as the Lightning. Probably about the same number of forum members lined up for both. Oooops, forgot to add- range range range, grid grid grid, nasty metals....;)

I missed the convertible? I'm devastated :(

One point to consider is once we get deeply into EV’s with all the batteries, is the rare earth minerals required to make the batteries comes from a) China and b) Ukraine.

wildtoad wrote:
One point to consider is once we get deeply into EV’s with all the batteries, is the rare earth minerals required to make the batteries comes from a) China and b) Ukraine.

Both countries known for environmentalism.

Another point. What will happen to the batteries after they die. We keep worrying about CO2 and such; but what about the effect on the enviroment of the byproducts of manufacturing these high tech batteries and such.

Been saying this since the EV boom. EV's are not green. Not by any stretch. The ecological damage to mine materials that have an abundance less than fossil fuels, the dependency on foreign nations for those raw materials (there's already talk about mining unexplored areas of the sea floor which have totally unknown consequences), the emissions from manufacture, the hazardous waste and caustic by-products from manufacture, the continued reliance on legacy power grid to produce and charge EV's and the lack of any plan to handle the hazardous waste when the batteries wear out all seem to get conveniently omitted from the sales pitch. The push to fuel this agenda (pardon the pun) is based on facts manipulated to support it. Emissions measured at the tailpipe is the tag line. But it's only a fraction of the life-cycle impact. I am not saying EV's don't function OK as a product, but they aren't green. And financially I can't see how this plays out better than ICE's running on fossil fuel. The batteries cost more than the vehicle is worth after a few years rendering the whole vehicle a loss, as raw materials become more scarce they'll be more mining, more eco impact and higher costs, and all this greater demand on the power grid is going to raise everyone's electricity costs whether you own an EV or not. EV's are an alternative but it's not better than ICE's, it's just a different set of problems and kicking the can down the road.

I just got approved for a $4,999,000 loan to buy one and they are sold out?

prichardson wrote:
Another point. What will happen to the batteries after they die. We keep worrying about CO2 and such; but what about the effect on the enviroment of the byproducts of manufacturing these high tech batteries and such.

SHHHH!!! We aren't supposed to talk about that!

prichardson wrote:
Another point. What will happen to the batteries after they die. We keep worrying about CO2 and such; but what about the effect on the enviroment of the byproducts of manufacturing these high tech batteries and such.

I am more worried about nuclear waste.