Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

FillThisEmptyCup t1_jefmzk5 wrote

Reply to comment by Non-FungibleMan in Inexpensive and environmentally friendly mechanochemical recycling process recovers 70% of lithium from batteries by chrisdh79

You'll need a ton of mining just to get there, for many decades.

Plus if it's 95% of lithium recovered (idk), for 1 billion cars that's still effectively needing lithium for 50 million cars every turnover (however long the avg battery car lasts).

8

csiz t1_jegh5e4 wrote

You need about 3 times more mining/drilling and processing of oil if we don't get there. Going to EVs is a net reduction in overall mining operations, but it shifts the demand to processing more lithium, copper, some nickel and some rare earth metals for magnets.

7

findingmike t1_jefvcpv wrote

Global production of new cars is 80 million per year, so you are talking about a 12 year time span, correct? Also population will start falling around 2050-2060, so production should slowly fall too.

6

FillThisEmptyCup t1_jefz2gb wrote

Not if the avg standard of living keeps going up.

3

Vitztlampaehecatl t1_jegp1xd wrote

If the standard of living goes up fast enough, developing nations can leapfrog past car-dependency and save their battery capacity for highly battery-efficient micromobility vehicles like ebikes, etrikes, and escooters.

An ebike equipped with a 1KWh battery can go 30 to 50 miles on a charge with throttle alone, while a Tesla Model 3 with 70KWh of battery capacity can go 300 to 375 miles on a charge. That's 70 times as much lithium for only ~8x as much distance, which means that hauling a whole car around with you is about ten times less efficient than an ebike.

3

what595654 t1_jeg7uya wrote

If we are playing the what if game. What if more technological advancements are made?

1

gophergun t1_jeg9213 wrote

We obviously are, considering it's /r/futurology and predictions about the future are inherently a what if game.

4

FillThisEmptyCup t1_jegi9zg wrote

It’s not a big what if because that’s exactly what’s been happening since WW2 globally. Chinese wages went from $0.50 an hour 15 years ago to over $8.

3

what595654 t1_jegpl1h wrote

The same could be said for technological advancement. My point is, your data point is not relevant in a vacuum. You have to consider all the other variables to even start any kind of useful analysis.

2

Bosco_is_a_prick t1_jegctjx wrote

Also electric cars are expected to last longer as they are much simpler machines compared to ICE cars

3