Rare Earths: One of the hardest pieces I've ever written
Researching this one was a literal eye-opener.
You should know by now that I'm bullish on EVs and electrified cars in general. They're not for everybody, but EVs are lovely to drive, pleasant to live with, and, unless you're heading way on out there on a heck of a long road trip, the range issue really isn't much of an issue these days. (Even if you are, battery-powered cars aren’t so bad. See: my unexpected, cross-Adirondack EV road trip I recently wrote about for InsideEVs.)
If that’s not enough, EVs have a net smaller impact on the environment than a comparable car with an internal combustion engine. (Yes, even if you state that generates power from coal. Yes, I did the math.)
However, in the process of writing my most recent piece for MotorTrend, my perception of the ethics of driving EVs and hybrids slipped down a little bit into uncomfortable territory.
That story was a deep dive on rare earths and other troubling elements used in the manufacture of electrified cars. Rare earths are primarily found in electric motors, but there's some less-than-great elements sitting around in your average battery pack, too.
Don't get me wrong: I always knew that there was some unsavory stuff stuck in your average EV, but in researching this article, I realized that my blinders were a little longer than I'd realized. I didn't appreciate the literal slave labor used in mining nor the veritable ecological wasteland that parts of Myanmar have become.
This piece makes for difficult reading, and I assure you it was even more difficult writing, but I encourage you to read all of it, because there is some good news in there. New sources of these materials are coming (too slowly, but they're coming), as are new and improved technologies that reduce or remove the need for these elements in the first place.
The big issue now is that it's really difficult for you or me to vote with our wallets, to tell the manufacturers that this kind of stuff is unacceptable, because a lot of this ugliness is happening behind the scenes. But, upcoming developments like battery passports will be at least a step in the right direction.
If you, like me, always want the full picture, even if the news isn't good, I encourage you to head over to MotorTrend. Please, though, do me a favor: Don't rage-share it without reading the whole thing. While this piece is surely going to be used as fodder for the ever-increasing wave of anti-EV sentiment, it shouldn't be. It is literally impossible to gauge the monumental environmental and social impact that internal combustion has had on the globe. Just because that impact has been spread out over the past 140 years doesn't mean it's any less significant.
Anyhow, yes, I'm still bullish on EVs and PHEVs and FCEVs, too. But, until we get all this figured out, and until EV manufacturers get a lot more transparent about where they're sourcing their materials, I confess that I might just be little a bit less enthusiastic.