Mining for lithium is destroying the environment much less than mining for oil is. But yes, going without a car completely is better than driving an electric car.

Isn't Lithium obtained from salt-water evaporation pools?

Yes. The anti-lithium thing is a Big Oil campaign that people are falling for. They frequently use pictures of _coal mining_ as Lithium.

Lithium is mostly made the same way as salt - just like you said. There are a few pit mines, but we also do that for .... everything else. Including oil!

Caring about pit mining and watersheds is so 1972. Get with the times granpa. We care about carbon now. /s

All mining is bad for the environment to an extent. The total environmental impact of EVs appears to be substantially less than ICE vehicles, all things included.

Thanks

It's less than great and largely a mixed bag. I'm honestly surprised that desalinization and hydrogen research never made the jump as it seems more sustainable. Also, somewhat concerned that the electricity generated for most EVs is mostly coming from fossil fuels as well (natural gas in the US which burns cleaner, but lower efficiency to electricity).

I think it will take a combination of things. I think the geopolitical controls over Lithium supply are probably more concerning, as is the availability of resources in and of themselves, which won't meet demand and will drive up costs.

I'm also concerned about the sheer number of products being shipped in small batches everywhere all day, at least in the US... I see an Amazon/UPS/USPS driver on my small street alone many times a day. It just feels very inefficient and wonder if this is just worse than taking a couple steps back away from convenience.