In the early decades of the car industry (1880-1920), battery electric vehicles (BEVs) got a remarkable popularity. Eventually, they fell into oblivion for nearly a century, when they left the stage to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), which enabled long-distance driving thanks to the superior energy density of liquid fuels. The invention of the lithium-ion battery (LIB, 1991), characterized by unprecedented energy density and steeply decreasing costs, set the stage to reverse this century-long trend, making nowadays BEVs a competitive alternative to ICEVs. In this paper, we analyze the perspectives of battery electric cars, quantitively assessing their performance in terms of energy efficiency and consumption versus ICEV counterparts. An examination of material requirements for manufacturing each battery component is made, with focus on critical resources such as cobalt, dysprosium, lithium and graphite. Based on quantitative data, we conclude that the transition to electric powertrains for light-duty vehicles is not only desirable but also doable. However, this must be accomplished by following circular economy principles across the whole industrial chain, in the frame of a wider, radical transformation of the mobility system towards more sustainable models.

Substantia, Vol 3 No 2 Suppl. 2 (2019)