Large-Scale Adoption of EVs Faces Logistical Hurdles

By Ken Wysocky. Excerpts: 

"The new EPA mandate calls for carbon dioxide emissions for new cars and light trucks to decrease by 49 percent from 2027 to 2032.

Analysts—and even the EPA itself—say that meeting this new standard would ostensibly require EVs to account for 67 percent of new cars sold by 2032. 

Is that goal realistic? For perspective, consider that only an estimated 1.5 million of the roughly 276 million vehicles currently driven on American roads are EVs. And EVs accounted for only 5.8 percent of car sales in 2022, according to market-research firm Motor Intelligence.

Furthermore, the average age of an internal-combustion engine (ICE) passenger vehicle currently stands at a record 12-1/2 years, according to S&P Global Mobility."

"Alan Reynolds . . . claims that passenger vehicles contribute only 16.4 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States—far below the number normally cited by EV proponents."

"it takes massive amounts of energy to manufacture them, not to mention the energy required to mine, process and transport the minerals needed to make EV batteries—and to manufacture the batteries themselves, contrarian experts observe.

In fact, some researchers contend that manufacturing batteries alone tacks on nearly 40 percent more in greenhouse gas emissions for EVs, compared to the carbon footprint of an ICE vehicle. For example, China—the dominant player in refining minerals required to make EV batteries as well as in manufacturing the batteries—obtains 60 percent of its energy from burning coal"

"Jeffrey Miron, vice president of research for the Cato Institute and the director of graduate and undergraduate studies for the Department of Economics at Harvard University, says the argument that EVs are more eco-friendly than ICE vehicles fails to account for how the energy used to charge batteries is produced."

"Much of the world’s lithium is mined in politically unstable countries that aren’t friendly to the United States, and China—which has a tense relationship with us—controls the majority of the global lithium-processing capacity.

China also controls about 75 percent of the market for building EV batteries. This makes us precariously dependent on China, which creates a supply chain fraught with risk.

Moreover, an Oxford University study shows that only about a quarter of the earth’s estimated 88 million tons of lithium is economically viable for mining. And experts note that getting permits to open mines in the United Sates, where we only have one lithium mine, based in Nevada, can take up to a decade or longer, especially if the approval process gets embroiled in lawsuits filed by environmentalists."

"by 2034, the United States alone will need 500,000 metric tons of unrefined lithium just for EVs. But we currently only produce a miniscule fraction of that; about 5,000 tons a year, or less than 2 percent of total global output"

"mining lithium requires vast amounts of water—about 500,000 gallons to produce just one metric ton of lithium"

"as demand for minerals increases, prices will skyrocket, making EVs even more expensive"

"The availability of electricity in the United States also poses challenges, especially considering that the grid is already under stress in some regions."

"what about the millions of people who live in apartment complexes without parking spaces? It will be impossible for them to charge their EVs overnight if they have to park several blocks away from where they live"

"The California Energy Commission has estimated the United States will need a ratio of seven EVs for every one charging port to handle an influx of EVs. But at the end of 2022, that ratio was just 29:1"

"out of the 31,000 counties in the country, 63 percent had five or fewer non-proprietary charges installed, and 30 percent installed none"