Electric vehicles: Difference between revisions

Electric vehicles (view source)

Revision as of 22:08, 15 October 2023

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 * [[Hydrogen]] [[fuel cell vehicles]] are based in '''platinum'''-group metals (PGMs), which are also scarce.
-With either of these technologies, if we want to make all cars electric, there simply aren't enough minerals available to be mined from the Earth. We need to use some other type of [[energy storage]] instead. This involves tradeoffs.
+With either of these technologies, there simply aren't enough minerals available to be mined from the Earth. If we want to make all cars electric, we need to use some other type of [[energy storage]] instead. This involves tradeoffs.
 ====Possible solutions====
-* [[Sodium-ion batteries]]
+{{minor|To put it simply:}}
-** not available on the market yet
+* People need to be okay with driving cheap [[short-range EVs]].
-** could potentially be built with only abundant materials
+* The battery industry needs to get its s**t together and start making low-cost [[sodium-ion batteries]] (even if they aren't as good as lithium-ion).
-* [[LFP batteries]]
+{{minor|<br />[[Sodium-ion batteries]] could potentially be built with only abundant materials. But none of these batteries are available on the market today. Some companies are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into ''research & development'', trying to make sodium-ion batteries as energy-dense as lithium-ion. But despite all the hype in the news, there's no guarantee that this will ever happen - and if it does, there's no guarantee that the batteries will be cheap. Meanwhile, sodium-ion batteries could already be a "good enough" solution today, if we just accept the fact that they naturally hold less of a charge than lithium-ion. By lowering the expectations a bit, battery manufacturers could be making the first sodium-ion batteries in 6 months from now, instead of in 10 years from now!<br /><br />}}
-** available on the market
-** cobalt-free, but still based in lithium
-*** {{minor|in other words, more scalable but still not as scalable as we'd like.}}
-The main problem with these types of batteries is that they hold less of a charge - in other words, the vehicle would have [[short-range EVs|less range]]. But at least it would be more affordable.{{qn}} In the case of electric cars, this compromise might actually be fine if the average buyer is okay with it.
+Of course there are ''some'' types of EVs that ''have to'' have a long range - for example freight trucks and intercity buses. But maybe if these are the only EVs that use scarce minerals, then there just might be enough minerals to go around.
-{{minor|Every once and awhile there's some news article about some company researching / developing / investing in some battery type that will supposedly be as energy-dense as lithium-ion. But there's no guarantee it'll happen in the near future, and if it does, it'll probably be expensive.}}
+For mid-range EVs, [[LFP batteries]] might be good enough. They're still lithium-based, but at least they're cobalt-free - and these batteries are already available on the market today.
-<!-- TALK:
-* Maybe refactor this to either be a table or have 1 heading for each energy storage candidate. That way, other things like [[lead-acid]] batteries can be mentioned. Or don't; just have a full table on the [[energy storage]] page.
-* I want to make a bolder tl;dr:
-** Electric cars are fine if people are willing to settle for less range, and if the battery industry gets its shit together and starts making cheap sodium-ion batteries.
--->
 ===Generating enough electricity===
 {{sum|Major problem|bad}}