"In "The Electric-Vehicle Unicorn Crash" (op-ed, May 20), Allysia Finley mentions that 434,879 EVs were sold in the U.S. last year. This represents a mere 2.88% of the 15.1 million vehicles sold here in 2021.
Global lithium-mine production reached a record high of 100,000 metric tons last year, 65% of which is used in EV-battery construction. (The other 44% is used in lubricants, cellphones, etc). The Electrek news site estimates that the Tesla Model S uses 63 kilograms (138 pounds) of lithium per EV, which means that if Tesla used every available pound of world-wide lithium for Model S battery construction, it could produce only 1,040,000 Model S EVs a year. Granted, the Model S is a top-end product that requires more lithium than smaller EVs, but the point is simple: Neoliberals who want to replace the internal combustion engine-powered car with EVs are living in a fantasy world.
To make matters worse, the U.S. currently has only one large-scale, active lithium mine, in Nevada, with two more proposed mines nearby. But the same kind of environmentally woke folks who demand a move to an all-EV fleet are holding up the opening of those two mines in court.
Unfortunately, the happy talk that defines the modern Democratic Party also prevails in the EV industry.
Russ Andrews
Aspen, Colo.” [1]
1. Electric Vehicles Are on a Bridge to Nowhere
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 26 May 2022: A.16.
Komentarų nėra:
Rašyti komentarą