page_title: Environmental aspects of the electric car
section_title: Raw material availability and supply security
hierarchical_section_title: Environmental aspects of the electric car / Raw material availability and supply security
caption_attribution_description: العربية: تراكُمات ملحيَّة في سالار دو أويوني، في بوليڤيا. تُعتبرُ سالار دو أويوني أكبر (12&#160;000 كلم²) وأعلى (3&#160;700 م) بُحيرة ملحيَّة على سطح الأرض، فهي تفوقُ بُحيرة بونيڤيل الملحيَّة حجمًا بِحوالي. 25 مرَّة. وهي كُل ما تبقَّى من بُحيرةٍ قبتاريخيَّة تُحيطُ بها الجبال دون أن يكون لها أيَّة مصارف أو مجارٍ. يُجمعُ الملح من هذا المكان بالطُرق التقليديَّة: يُكشطُ الملح ويُجمعُ في أكوامٍ صغيرة كي يتبخَّر منهُ الماء وكي يسهل تجميعه ونقله، ثُمَّ يتم تجفيفه فوق النار، وأخيرًا يُخصَّبُ بِاليُود. Deutsch: Salzhügel im Salar de Uyuni in Bolivien. Der Salar de Uyuni ist der größte (12.000 km²) und höchste (3700m) Salzsee der Welt, ungef&#228;hr 25 mal so groß wie die Bonneville Salt Flats. Er ist entstanden aus einem durch Berge eingeschlossenen pr&#228;historischen See ohne Abfluß. Salz wird in der traditionellen Methode gewonnen: Das Salz wird zu kleinen H&#252;geln zusammengerecht zur Wasserevaporation und zum leichteren Transport, danach wird es &#252;ber Feuer getrocknet und mit Jod angereichert. English: Salt mounds in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. The Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest (12&#160;000 km²) and highest (3&#160;700 m) salt flat, ca. 25 times as large as the Bonneville Salt Flats. It's the remnant of a prehistoric lake surrounded by mountains without drainage outlets. Salt is harvested in the traditional method: the salt is scraped into small mounds for water evaporation and easier transportation, dried over fire, and finally enriched with iodine. Español: Pilas de sal en el Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia), la mayor salina del mundo. Es el remanente de un lago prehistórico rodeado por montañas sin salidas de drenaje. La sal se cosecha con el método tradicional: se amontona enpequeñas pilas para que se evapore el agua y para transportarla fácilmente, secada al fuego, y enriquecida finalmente con yodo. Français&#160;: Récolte du sel dans le Salar de Uyuni, en Bolivie. Le Salar de Uyuni (3 700 m) couvre une surface de 12 000 km² soit la taille de l'Île-de-France, ce qui en fait le désert de sel le plus grand et le plus élevé du monde. Ce désert résulte de l'assèchement d'un lac préhistorique entouré de montagnes et privé d'émissaire. La récolte du sel se fait de façon traditionelle&#160;: le sel récolté est façonné en monticules, ce qui favorise l'évaporation de l'eau qu'il contient, et facilite son transport. Le sel est ensuite séché au feu, et enfin enrichi en iode. Italiano: Raccolta del sale nel Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. Il Salar de Uyuni è il più grande (12.000 km²) e più in alto (3.700 m) deserto di sale del mondo, con una superficie più estesa dell'Abruzzo. Deriva dal prosciugamento di un lago salato preistorico circondato dalle montagne e senza drenaggio. Il sale viene raccolto in modo tradizionale, accumulato in piccole montagnette in modo che l'acqua evapori poi viene asciugato sul fuoco e arricchito con iodio. 日本語: ボリビア、ウユニ塩湖の製塩用の塩の山。ここでは湖の塩を削り取り小山を作って乾燥させるという伝統的手法で塩が生産されている。ウユニ塩湖は世界で最も大きく、最も標高の高い塩類平原で (12&#160;000 km²、3&#160;700 m)、ボンネビル・ソルトフラッツの約25倍の大きさにあたる。 Türkçe: Bolivya'da bulunan ve Dünya'nın en büyük tuz göllerinden biri olan Salar de Uyuni'deki tuz tepecikleri.
context_page_description: Electric cars have several environmental benefits compared to conventional internal combustion engine cars. They have lower operating and maintenance costs, produce little or no local air pollution, reduce dependence on petroleum and also have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Electric motors are significantly more efficient than internal combustion engines and thus, even accounting for distribution losses, less energy is required to operate an EV. Producing batteries for electric cars requires additional resources and energy, so they may have a larger environmental footprint when new. The UK government estimates two thirds of car particulate pollution arises from tire, brake and road dust. Since electric cars are heavier on average, they could produce more of this type of pollution than traditional vehicles. However, EVs' use of regenerative braking means that fewer particles are emitted by traditional braking. Lastly, electric cars are mechanically much simpler and are predicted to have a longer useful life, which can be beneficial for the environment since fewer cars are needed overall.
context_section_description: Common technology for plug-in hybrids and electric cars is based on the lithium-ion battery and an electric motor which uses rare-earth elements. The demand for lithium and other specific elements (such as neodymium, boron and cobalt) required for the batteries and powertrain is expected to grow significantly due to the future sales increase of plug-in electric vehicles in the mid and long term. As of 2011, the Toyota Prius battery contains more than 20 lb (9 kg) of the rare-earth element lanthanum, and its motor magnets use neodymium and dysprosium. While only 0.25 oz (7 g) of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) are required in a smartphone and 1.1 oz (30 g) in a tablet computer, electric vehicles and stationary energy storage systems for homes, businesses or industry use much more lithium in their batteries. As of 2016 a hybrid electric passenger car might use 11 lb (5 kg) of LCE, while one of Tesla's high performance electric cars could use as much as 180 lb (80 kg).
  Some of the largest world reserves of lithium and rare-earth metals are located in countries with strong resource nationalism, unstable governments or hostility to U.S. interests, raising concerns about the risk of replacing dependence on foreign oil with a new dependence on hostile countries to supply strategic materials.
  Lithium
  The main deposits of lithium are found in China and throughout the Andes mountain chain in South America. In 2008 Chile was the leading lithium metal producer with almost 30%, followed by China, Argentina, and Australia. In the United States lithium is recovered from brine pools in Nevada.
  Nearly half the world's known reserves are located in Bolivia, and according to the US Geological Survey, Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni desert has 5.4 million tons of lithium. Other important reserves are located in Chile, China, and Brazil. Since 2006 the Bolivian government have nationalized oil and gas projects and is keeping a tight control over mining its lithium reserves. Already the Japanese and South Korean governments, as well as companies from these two countries and France, have offered technical assistance to develop Bolivia's lithium reserves and are seeking to gain access to the lithium resources through a mining and industrialization model suitable to Bolivian interests.
  According to a 2011 study conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California Berkeley, the currently estimated reserve base of lithium should not be a limiting factor for large-scale battery production for electric vehicles, as the study estimated that on the order of 1 billion 40 kWh Li-based batteries (about 10 kg of lithium per car) could be built with current reserves, as estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey. Another 2011 study by researchers from the University of Michigan and Ford Motor Company found that there are sufficient lithium resources to support global demand until 2100, including the lithium required for the potential widespread use of hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and battery electric vehicles. The study estimated global lithium reserves at 39 million tons, and total demand for lithium during the 90-year period analyzed at 12–20 million tons, depending on the scenarios regarding economic growth and recycling rates.
  A 2016 study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) found that availability of lithium and other finite materials used in the battery packs will not be a limiting factor for the adoption of electric vehicles. BNEF estimated that battery packs will require less than 1% of the known reserves of lithium, nickel, manganese, and copper through 2030, and 4% of the world's cobalt. After 2030, the study states that new battery chemistries will probably shift to other source materials, making packs lighter, smaller, and cheaper.
  Rare-earth elements
  China has 48% of the world's reserves of rare-earth elements, the United States has 13%, and Russia, Australia, and Canada have significant deposits. Until the 1980s, the U.S. led the world in rare-earth production, but since the mid-1990s China has controlle
caption: The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is one of the largest known lithium reserves in the world.[77][79]
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