KD4UPL wrote:
Do you have any idea what it takes to make a battery? Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, and Magnesium are all MINED; largely in third world countries. The mines for these rare metals are huge; they burn vast amounts of DIESEL fuel to power the mining machines and trucks. There is lots of ground water contamination. There is lots of child labor being used. Further, unlike lead acid batteries, lithium batteries are not very recyclable; they are mostly just a throw-away battery. Current recycling "technology" for lithium batteries includes basically burning them to smelt the precious metals back out. Further, all these electric cars being recharged from a grid that is still 63% fueled by fossil fuels.
Anyone who thinks electric cars are "saving the planet" or keeping the air and water clean isn't looking at the whole picture.
THAT is what I'm concerned about; a lot more so than grid capacity.
So far I've never seen a conclusive study on global CO2 and other pollutants if EVERY car is converted to EV.
We need to study the cradle to grave effect of electrification, not just the immediate city streets that get cleaner air.
