The race to grab all the UK’s lithium before it’s too late

Re:The race to grab all the UK’s lithium before it’s too late by jfklsdfjsdf on Monday October 18, 2021 @10:11AM (#28905593)

I don't understand why this is surprising. The embodied energy of lithium cells is enormous, and it takes 30,000 miles or more of EV driving before you've paid back the CO2 debt of manufacturing the battery pack (that is, assuming you're driving an EV largely manufactured using fossil fuels, which they are, and you are driving somewhere with a reasonably high percentage of renewable electricity sources in the grid).

More fun calculations include "how many solar panels would we need to power one Gigafactory" and "how many wind turbines would we need to manufacture that many solar panels".

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The race to grab all the UK’s lithium before it’s too late by Tagbert on Monday October 18, 2021 @10:21AM (#28905683)

Most recent estimates are that under typical electrical grid power sources, it takes 8,000 miles to pay off the manufacturing CO2 debt for an EV, not 30,000 miles. I believe that larger figure is if you’re grid were 100% powered by coal.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The race to grab all the UK’s lithium before it’s too late by jfklsdfjsdf on Monday October 18, 2021 @10:32AM (#28905800)

That would be the most optimistic estimate I've ever seen - do you have a source for it?

Assuming 73kg/CO2e per kWh of EV pack[1], an 85kWh EV pack, an ICE that gets 40mpg (and thus 40 miles per 11kg CO2), grid production of 0.30kg CO2e / kWh (which is far lower than the US grid output), and 3 miles per kWh for the EV, the breakeven point is at 35,000 miles.

[1] https://www.transportenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2021...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The race to grab all the UK’s lithium before it’s too late by Tade0 on Monday October 18, 2021 @11:00AM (#28906098)

Only 35,000 miles? Then I guess the break even point comes before the average first owner switches to a new vehicle.

[ Parent | on HN ]