However, there are a lot of misconceptions about what a rare earth element is and how many of them are used by electric cars. In fact, lithium-ion batteries typically contain zero rare earth elements (though they do contain other “critical minerals” as defined in the Inflation Reduction Act).
“There are enough materials in reserves. The analysis is robust and this study debunks those (running out of minerals) concerns,” said Daniel Ibarra, an environment professor at Brown University, who wasn't part of the study but looks at lithium shortages.
We have designed our next Drive Unit which uses a permanent magnet motor to not use any Rare Earth materials at all. So how does all this fit into the master plan we can make lower-cost products that are still efficient and compelling, and we can make them at scale. We're going to use less constrained Commodities.”
Here's why that is — and isn't — a big deal. Tesla has announced plans to eliminate the use of rare earth elements in its powertrains — but the move alone won't be enough to significantly combat the problems caused by the metals.
While the world does have enough lithium to power the electric vehicle revolution, it's less a question of quantity, and more a question of accessibility. Earth has approximately 88 million tonnes of lithium, but only one-quarter is economically viable to mine as reserves.
The process of extracting lithium consumes significant amounts of water and energy, and lithium mining can pollute the air and water with chemicals and heavy metals. In addition, mining lithium can disrupt wildlife habitats and cause soil erosion, leading to long-term ecological damage.
The rare earth elements in an EV are used in electric car motors rather than batteries. The most used is Neodymium, which is used in powerful magnets for speakers, hard drives, and electric motors. Dysprosium, Terbium and Praesodymium are commonly used as additives in Neodymium magnets.
Hence, Lithium is not a rare earth mineral.
“Not only is it going to be a little hard to meet that demand, but mining that rare earth has environmental and health risks. “We want to do better than this. So we have designed our next drive unit, which uses a permanent magnet motor, to not use any rare earth materials at all.
China set a quota for the first batch of rare-earth mining in 2023 at 120,000 tons on Friday, up by about 20 percent compared with last year's level, with a quota for smelting and separation at 115,000 tons, also up from 97,200 tons in 2022.
Instead, solar cells use a range of minor metals including silicon, indium, gallium, selenium, cadmium, and tellurium. Minor metals, which are sometimes referred to as rare metals, are by-products from the refining of base metals such as copper, nickel, and zinc.
By 2030, it is forecast to reach 315,000 tons. Concerningly, production of these rare earth minerals has remained concentrated. China has a dominant hold on the market—with 60% of global production and 85% of processing capacity.
The term rare earth elements (or critical minerals) refers to a list of about 15 elements that are necessary inputs for many newer technologies like cell phones, rechargeable batteries, electric vehicles, and solar panels.
A typical EV battery has about 8 kilograms of lithium, 14 kilograms of cobalt, and 20 kilograms of manganese, although this can often be much more depending on the battery size – a Tesla Model S' battery, for example, contains around 62.6 kg (138 pounds) of lithium.
According to the study, electric vehicles require two and a half times as much copper as an internal combustion engine vehicle. The report states that copper demand will double to 50,000,000 metric tons annually by 2035, more than all the copper consumed in the world between 1900 and 2021.
For instance, to manufacture each EV auto battery, you must process 25,000 pounds of brine for the lithium, 30,000 pounds of ore for the cobalt, 5,000 pounds of ore for the nickel, and 25,000 pounds of ore for copper. All told, you dig up 500,000 pounds of the earth's crust for just one battery.
In short, demand for rare earths is rising fast. In the 20 years leading up to today, the demand for rare earth elements doubled to 125,000 metric tonnes and this will only continue as we near the year 2030.
Researchers at Vienna University of Technology have developed an oxygen-ion battery based on ceramic materials that has a longer lifespan than lithium-ion batteries. The new battery can be regenerated and does not require rare elements, making it an ideal solution for large energy storage systems.
Where is lithium available from? With 8 million tons, Chile has the world's largest known lithium reserves. This puts the South American country ahead of Australia (2.7 million tons), Argentina (2 million tons) and China (1 million tons).
U.S. geological survey the world is getting better at mining battery metals including lithium. As of 2021, it was estimated that the world had 88 million tonnes of lithium resources.
Estimates show that in the United States a large portion of future EV material demand can be met with recycled content. In 2050, recovered material can supply approximately 45–52% of cobalt, 40–46% of nickel, and 22–27% of lithium demand for EVs.
These EV battery chemistries depend on five critical minerals whose domestic supply is potentially at risk for disruption: lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, and graphite.
Rare earths are mined by digging vast open pits in the ground, which can contaminate the environment and disrupt ecosystems. When poorly regulated, mining can produce wastewater ponds filled with acids, heavy metals and radioactive material that might leak into groundwater.