New Study Suggests Electrical Vehicles Are Supercharging an Impending Environmental Crisis

However, new information has emerged that suggests electric vehicles may not be as environmentally friendly as we originally thought.

Because EVs run on batteries instead of gasoline or diesel, by switching, the world could significantly reduce its use of fossil fuel usage and the consequent carbon emissions almost overnight.

So, in theory, by eliminating these vehicles and transitioning to electric, the US could reduce its emissions by a whopping 31% in no time at all.

However, that information fails to note that, in order to build the batteries of these electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed for them to function, an almost obscene amount of copper needs to be mined. And mining this much copper is certainly going to have a negative effect on the planet.

That’s fairly simple math: Transitioning all vehicles from gasoline-powered to electric would mean the world needs four times the amount of copper it uses now. But that’s just the cars.

One report noted that within this very decade if EV sales and charging station construction continue to grow, “global copper demand will increase between 3 and 5 million tonnes.”

Solar power systems typically contain 5.5 tons of copper, onshore wind turbines use 10 tons of copper, and offshore wind turbines can use as much as 20 tons. Now, many experts are arguing that this kind of copper mining is not only detrimental to the planet, it may literally be impossible.

The study also reported that, in order to make that a reality, at least six new copper mines need to be fully operational within the next decade; however, opening a new mine can take up to 20 years.

And researchers at the University of Michigan conducted a study on the current and projected levels of copper use in the United States echoed that sentiment, reporting, “Copper cannot be mined quickly enough to keep up with current U.S. policy guidelines to transition the country’s electricity and vehicle infrastructure to renewable energy.”

Some Tesla EVs use as little as 66 pounds of copper, while others need more than 200 pounds. Additionally, just one of the company’s famous supercharging stations uses more than 50 pounds of copper. So, with more than 50,000 charging stations and over 5 million vehicles, Tesla is one of the largest miners of copper on the planet.

Hybrids use approximately 85 pounds of copper, which is far less than the average 200 pounds in a fully electric vehicle. As well, hybrids don’t need charging stations as the batteries are charged by the combustion engine, meaning tens of thousands fewer pounds of copper.

However, if the president wants his plan to come to fruition, he will have to address the copper problem very soon. At this moment in time, even if companies wanted to follow the president’s EV mandate, they would not have enough copper to do so.