BOOMING BUSINESS FOR ELECTRIC CARS

The electric vehicle market is roughly where the internet was in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Governments around the world are setting targets for reducing the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles, which is accelerating the process. Many industry observers believe we have already passed the tipping point where electric vehicle (EV) sales will quickly outnumber gasoline and diesel car sales – and it is also what most reputed car manufacturers think.

?The motors that power electric vehicles, the computers that control them, charging systems, and car design have all advanced dramatically. But the substantial improvement in the performance of electric cars is largely due to advancements in the vehicle's non-beating heart, the battery. When you factor in the cost of fuel and servicing - which EVs require far less of - many electric cars are already less expensive than the petrol or diesel alternatives.

The electric car market, like the internet in the 1990s, is already expanding at an exponential rate. Despite overall car sales falling by a fifth during the COIVD pandemic, global sales of electric vehicles increased by 43% to 3.2 million in 2020 – as reported by BBC.

EVs are more environmentally friendly than gas-powered vehicles, but they still have environmental costs. Batteries contain valuable minerals such as cobalt and lithium, which are primarily extracted and processed in other countries, where they cost local communities significantly in labor abuses and vital resources such as water, as well as contributing to global carbon emissions. As a result, unchecked demand for new electric vehicles will “reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries and urban centers while sacrificing places where the materials are mined”.

The current petrol and diesel-run cars use lithium-ion batteries that have a service life of around 10 years before replacement is needed. Electric car batteries are highly recyclable, with around 90 percent of the cell being recoverable for commercial activity. Wiring and plastics can be stripped and recycled. The precious mined metals contained in the battery cell electrolyte can be dangerous to access since they are flammable, explosive, and very toxic. These hazards must be dealt with before cell components can be recycled.

The last thing anyone wants is for those batteries to become waste.

When batteries of electric vehicles cannot be repaired or reused, the automobile manufacturer recycles some of them at its own facility or will store them. Those batteries, along with millions more that will eventually be retired, pose a challenge to the world's electrified future.???