Are we really moving to a better future with EVs?

https://blogs.cfainstitute.org/investor/2021/12/21/green-and-renewable-energy-not-so-fast/

” What if the lithium battery technology is not yet ready for automobiles? Much smaller lithium batteries have earned bad reputations. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 phones were so notorious for exploding, they were banned from aircraft, and e-cigarettes and other lithium batteries from checked luggage. The Chevy Bolt EV has been recalled, creating a billion-dollar hit to GM’s balance sheet, and even Boeing had problems with its 787 lithium batteries.

Lithium battery fires burn at over 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit. They cannot be put out with water. Lithium battery fires are so hot they split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, creating a flammable hydrogen gas cloud. Their heat can damage or destroy the tendons that give prestressed concrete slabs their strength. These slabs are found in parking garages and apartments and on bridges. Where will EVs park if they aren’t safe in parking garages?”

500 tons of ore to produce one EV car battery…  this is progress? 

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Energy-Transition-Has-A-Major-Metal-Problem.html

“ The metals mining industry is at a crossroads. Key energy transition metals need trillions of U.S. dollars in investment if the world has any chance of advancing the transition to meet the Paris Agreement targets. At the same time, investors are backing out of carbon-intensive sectors, which metals mining undoubtedly is. Moreover, governments in developed nations with net-zero goals—including the U.S. Administration—want only “sustainable” new domestic mining to extract the minerals critical to support increased transportation electrification and renewable power generation aligned with their net-zero by 2050 targets.   Currently, demand for key battery metals, including lithium, graphite, cobalt, nickel, copper, manganese, and aluminum, is soaring, but supply is struggling to catch up. 

Supply comes from mining—a very carbon-intensive industry—but policymakers and investors need to acknowledge that there is one dirty industry at the beginning of the clean energy supply chain. Until other forms of totally clean energy become available—if ever—metals and metal mining will power the energy transition. 

Here’s where the dilemma for investors lies—they want Paris-aligned portfolios and have been reluctant to support a large carbon emitter like the metal mining industry. Yet, this industry needs support—including from bankers and investors—to raise capital to invest in new supplies of lithium and copper that will power the electric cars of environment-conscious investors. “