EVs don’t eliminate emissions but just export them somewhere else. True or False?

We came across a viral YouTube Reel claiming that electric vehicles don’t eliminate emissions but just export them somewhere else. The same video seemed to contain various other dubious claims in terms of Electric Vehicles, so we decided to do a detailed fact check. We found that most of the claims are either false or misleading. 

The Claims in the Video

The person in the video claims that there is no such thing as a zero-emission vehicle. “The real question is where are the emissions associated with electric cars? What you do with an electric vehicle is you don’t eliminate emissions, you export them somewhere else. You have to dig up about 500,000 lbs of materials to make a single 100 lb battery. It takes 10 to 30 barrels of oil to manufacture a battery that can hold 1 barrel of oil equivalent energy. Just manufacturing a battery can have a carbon debt rate ranging from 10 tons to 40 tons of Carbon Dioxide. And the plans that are in place to increase the use of batteries will require an increase in the production of minerals like lithium, cobalt, and zinc. Demand for those minerals would increase between 400% and 4000%. There isn’t enough mining in the world to make enough batteries to buy people their cars,” said the person in the video. 

Claim 1 

It takes 10 to 30 barrels of oil to manufacture a battery that can hold 1 barrel of oil equivalent energy. Just manufacturing a battery can have a carbon debt rate ranging from 10 tons to 40 tons of Carbon Dioxide.

Fact 

Misleading. It does take 1-3 barrels of oil to manufacture a battery that can hold 1 barrel of oil. But in the long run, a battery-powered vehicle is an efficient and more environmentally viable option. 

What We Found

Fossil fuel cars waste hundreds of times more raw material than an equivalent battery-powered electric car, according to a report published in The Guardian that gives evidence that moving away from petrol and diesel vehicles will have positive impacts on the environment. 

If recycling is taken into account, only about 30 kg of raw material would be lost over the lifetime of the lithium-ion battery we use in battery-powered electric cars. This is in comparison with 17,000 liters of oil, according to the Guardian report based on an analysis by Transport & Environment, a European research and campaign group. 

“Our previous analysis has shown that electric vehicles emit 64% less Carbon dioxide, this includes various stages like electricity generation and fuel production. However, this still hasn’t shaken off the argument that electric vehicles use up a large number of raw materials,” said Lucien Mathieu to The Guardian, a transport analyst at T&E and an author of the report. “Our analysis shows that the raw material needs of EV batteries pale in comparison to the fuel burned by fossil fuel cars, which, unlike batteries, cannot be recycled.”

The fossil engine/battery calculations exclude the raw material which is needed to produce the electricity because this is contingent on factors such as fuel extraction efficiency and national electricity mixes. The analysis also shows that upstream energy (which is producing the electricity and making the solar panels and turbines used to produce that electricity) has shown it would only make a difference of 5% to 10% in total energy consumption” for renewable energy-powered electric vehicles.

On other aspects, electric vehicles are considered superior to their petrol and diesel counterparts across energy efficiency, raw material demand, or cost. Also, this will help in eliminating exhaust emissions of harmful gasses including carbon dioxide.

Also, developments in battery technology will lead to a reduction in the average amount requirement of lithium, cobalt, and nickel for each car. This will mitigate some of the increased demand for the materials as well as will lead to a reduction in these car prices. Moreover, circular economy regulations which require higher recycling rates could further, reduce demand. 

Claim 2 

Demand for the minerals required in battery production would increase between 400% and 4000%. 

Fact

Misleading. No data source tracks this information. They have not mentioned the period for which they are expecting this increase. Also, they have not mentioned which minerals they are referring to when they are talking about an increase between 400% and 4000%. 

Claim 3 

There isn’t enough mining in the world to make enough batteries for people to buy for their cars. 

Fact

There are enough minerals available to make batteries for people to buy for their cars. These materials are primarily supplied through two sources: 1) newly mined or 2) recovered by recycling batteries already in circulation.  

What We Found 

The transition to electric vehicles is necessary to decrease emissions that are responsible for climate change.  As deployment increases, so will the demand for EV battery materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. These materials are primarily supplied through two sources: 

1) newly mined or

2) recovered by recycling batteries already in circulation.  

The use of recycled materials leads to a significant reduction in environmental impacts. This is also a viable substitute for newly mined materials. Although it requires the materials to have already been extracted, manufactured into a battery, and finally retired from use. 

Research shows there are enough explored reserves to electrify the global transportation sector using current technology in case a high amount of battery recycling occurs. In this scenario, global demand in 2100 will amount to about 55% of cobalt reserves and 50% of lithium reserves.  

If recycling doesn’t match the pace of production, a shortage of critical minerals like lithium, nickel, or cobalt is likely to be seen as the demand would exceed what is economically accessible to extract. According to this scenario, demand in the year 2060 is more than cobalt reserves and would be about 90% of current lithium reserves. This dwindling of reserves would likely raise material costs, triggering increased exploration and development, and potentially expanding reserves.  

Scientists evaluating resource availability during mining look for two categories: the total available resources and the mineral reserves. This distinction is important to note because the reserves represent the global resources that are economical to extract, whereas the total resources represent an estimated value of the finite global resources. Reserve estimates are therefore present in lesser amounts as compared to total resources which also fluctuate based on mineral exploration, material value, and technological advancement. Recycling can decrease new mining needs at a good scale and is an essential strategy to generate sustainable, secure, and affordable electrification. 

What makes recycling more sustainable? 

Using recycled content lowers environmental impacts, these impacts are much lower than newly mined materials. These critical materials which we recovered after recycling were already present in the economy. The only impacts associated with their production are from transporting the battery to recycling, pre-processing, and recycling. The reduction of climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions is approximately 64% when we use recycled material instead of new. Emissions that create smog and impact human health can also be mitigated which include a reduction in sulfur oxides level by 89% and nitrogen oxides by 78%. 

How much demand can be met with recycled materials?  

As per a study focusing on the United States, a large portion of future Electric Vehicle material demand can be met with recycled content.  In 2050, recovered material can supply approximately 45–52% of cobalt, 40–46% of nickel, and 22–27% of lithium demand for EVs. If we look at the short-term, recycled content will represent a smaller amount of battery materials. However, the number grows as more material is in the economy and Electric vehicle batteries retire.  

(with inputs from Aayushi Sharma)