Electric vehicle critics have directed a lot of misinformation at EV batteries, in an effort to make the (dishonest) case that they’re just as bad as gas engines. But not only are EVs far less polluting than internal combustion engines, the United States has a strong economic and environmental interest in bolstering a domestic supply chain.
My new op-ed in The Hill has recommendations on steps that federal and state leaders should take to seize the opportunity. At stake are not only a lot of potential jobs, but also a more reliable and sustainable supply of the batteries that will soon be powering most of our transportation needs.
And for more about the EV battery supply chain, check out a recent talk I gave on this subject for Berkeley Lab’s Lithium Resource Research and Innovation Center:
From Business Green’s summary of BCC Research:
The global market for electric vehicle power sources is set to rise to around $21bn by 2019, a new analysis has predicted. In 2013 the market stood at more than $11.9bn, but it is now expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 11 per cent between 2014 and 2019, according to BCC Research.
The company says the expected growth is a combination of electric vehicle (EV) use becoming more widely established and well-financed private and government-backed plans to introduce large numbers of the vehicles to urban streets.
The predictions follow recent evidence that sales are electric cars and vans are starting to gain momentum. For example, in the UK electric car sales quadrupled over 2014.
The big growth is expected from electric bikes and scooters in East Asia, which use lead acid batteries. It’s a solid reminder that electrification covers not just traditional cars and trucks. The U.S. would certainly benefit from diversifying our electric mobility to include these lower-cost options. And for countries like China, hopefully the electrification movement will spread to the passenger vehicle sector like it has in states like California and Georgia and countries like Norway.
