We All Want EV’s…But Supply Won’t Meet The Demand
As we move into the 2020s it is expected that more and more consumers will choose EV’s over traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. With Tesla making a big splash over the past few years, other car manufacturers have stepped up to the plate and have begun focusing on producing EVs.
Some have even gone as far as saying they will be completely EV by 2030.
All of this is great, we’re finally realizing the destruction we are causing on the environment with our purchases. It “seems” as if the government and multi-national corporations have begun to implement “eco-friendly” metrics and “ESG programs” to track and validate that they indeed “care” about the environment. Unfortunately, if you look deep enough into the science, you’ll find an unnerving truth. We don’t have the supply chain to satisfy the goals we have set our eyes upon.
According to Tesla Co-Founder and CEO @ Redwood Materials, JB Straubel proposes that we currently do not have enough supply of materials required for lithium batteries to keep up with the rising demand for EV’s. He believes that in the next 3–5 years we will face a massive shortage unless we do something about it now.
Not only is the Co-Founder of Tesla that aware of the dilemma we are headed towards, but so is United States Government. Recently, the EERE (The Office Of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy) a sub-agency of the D.O.E (The Department of Energy) alongside the VTO (The Vehicles Technologies Office) has requested information from the public on the risks involved in the EV supply chain. With the current administration being a massive proponent of “Green and Clean Energy Technologies” we should expect to see an absurd amount of money being funneled towards solving these issues.
The interesting part about the problem we are facing is that we face it because we have outsourced 90% of the supply chain to other countries. Usually, the idea of outsourcing to other countries to cut costs is “brilliant” according to modern-day business semantics. The legitimate problem in this context is that we have little to no control over the production of lithium, cobalt, and copper which are fundamental pieces of the EV’s battery system. We have no control of who’s refining it, as China currently refines upwards of 80% of the world’s minerals that are used in EV battery systems. In this scenario, the U.S is simply the purchaser of refined materials, but South America, Africa, Australia, and China are the major producers.
It’s an interesting scenario as we so desperately want to hit these unrealistic goals, but haven’t prepared ourselves economically to face the challenge.
If we are to get a grip, we need innovation now. I believe a combination of supporting companies similar to Redwood Recycling is a great start. Beyond that, we need new emerging tech to be scouted, researched, and funded so we can increase the efficiency of current EV battery systems to begin minimizing our dependence on other countries.
It’s important to realize that if we want to solve a problem, we have to be cognizant of the problem in the first place. Living in America, it’s really easy to get sidetracked by the daily “hustle”, never-ending notifications, and media being jammed down your throat. All of these things are trying to gain our attention, but it will take business owners, inventors, and financiers who turn away from the distractions and focus on solutions to get this problem solved.
We can’t treat our lives like a drive-through, expecting to roll up and get everything we want without making a change. Unfortunately, this “fast food mindset” is the mindset most of us live in, but it’s not the mindset conducive to solving problems and or making change.
Change isn’t complaining and blaming, change is taking action towards an outcome. If we want our EV’s we must put in the work and require local and federal officials to look into alternative methods of electrification.
It’s just my two cents from research and observation.
Sincerely,
Skylar G. Lysaker, just a guy interested in alternative energy, CSO @ ISA Industries.
