Alert Reader writes in.
It takes 60kw to produce 1kw of lithium battery capacity.
Sustainable electric eehicles demand that we use less neodymium, cobalt and lithium.
To say that we, as a society, are complicit in gross negligence by buying today's 1.5 to 3 tonne Electric vehicles would be a massive understatement of the first order.
* Automatic Earth's Dr D. points out that it takes 60kW of energy to make a 1kW Lithium battery.
* Kevin from Divergent Microfactories points out that 80% of the energy cost of modern vehicles is in its manufacture, not in its actual use.
* Lake Baotao is one of the most chilling man-made disaster sites the world has ever seen. We made it happen.
* 1,000 litres of boiling sulphuric acid is needed to refine 1kg of neodymium for Electric motor magnets.
* DRC's Cobalt mines are literally killing children. And we're happy to buy Google, Apple and Tesla products.
There is a way out of this nightmare – the one we do not see because it is not in our own back yard in the West – greatly reduced materials using 3D printed kevlar-reinforced geodesic vehicle frames, covered in Dacron or Hemp cloth. There is no technical reason in the world, right now, why we cannot make 100 kg (220 lb) 2 to 3 passenger compact cars that can sustain 60mph. They qualify, just like the Renault Twizy, as “Category L7E” under European Law (Heavy Quadricycle).
The really ironic part is that even the one-off self-build cost of such a 5ft by 10ft geodesic design is only somewhere around USD 4,000 because of the greatly reduced materials.
* High performance down-hill Mountain Bike parts for suspension and disc brakes are ultra light-weight, easy to service, and built for taking a beating.
* 3D printed kevlar-reinforced tubes can be custom made to order and are lighter and stronger than aluminium. A geodesic frame can be covered in Dacron (just like an ultralight aircraft).
* A tiny on-board 1-2kW generator constantly charges an even tinier 12kg Lithium battery pack.
We can do this, right now, but what is it going to take for people to wake up instead of being taken for a ride by Tesla?
References:
The Automatic Earth: But . . . Then There's Math
BBC: The dystopian lake filled by the world’s tech lust
The Guardian: I saw the unbearable grief inflicted on families by cobalt mining. I pray for change
