Electric Vehicles are the talk of the town and while driving an electric vehicle is environmentally friendly, making isn't. Let us see why is this the case in today's weekend pill.
You see not only traditional combustion engine pollutes the environment, but digging of Oil is also a major issue. It is a cumbersome seven-step process that includes digging, fracking and well abandonment, and land restoration. This by all means is equally destroying the environment as riding the traditional vehicle. And while in electric vehicles' case, riding is a zero-emission activity, mining for lithium - an important material required to manufacture batteries that is the heart of electric vehicles has extreme effects on the environment.
With the rise in the popularity of electric vehicles due to push by the government around the world, the mining activity of lithium is only going to rise. But the question that arises is, as Oil and natural gas are non-renewable sources so is lithium. So how are we going to cut down on emissions when the important raw material required to run electric vehicles is in limited stock?
There are many solutions provided by many experts around the world which include replacing lithium with sodium. Since lithium is quite a lightweight element, it’s hard to copy it with another element and experience the same effectiveness. However, these experts determined that if sodium atoms were able to be stacked on one another, then a reaction similar to lithium could be obtained. It is yet to be implemented and tested. So we have to wait and hope that any of these experts come with a way to apply it successfully.
Another, and by far the most important development is FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles). This type of vehicle generates electricity from fuel cells powered by hydrogen (Reliance energy has already started to capitalize on the hydrogen electrolyzer, read our previous article here to know more about it). Unlike the above solution, this method is already being applied but nonetheless has some drawbacks such as - method to separate the hydrogen is expensive, hydrogen as a fuel cannot be easily transported, it uses fossil fuel such as coal to generate. So unless there is a better and cheaper way to generate hydrogen, using this solution makes no sense.
Conclusion
The world needs an alternative to traditional vehicles, but the sheer cost of building that infrastructure needed to support the economy of the electric vehicle is worrying, as even after switching to it, we still pose a threat to the environment as seen above. The question is How do the Automobile giants like GM, Ford, Audi, Toyota, Tata, etc look at this problem?
Do let us know your thoughts on the above-presented arguments in the comment section and let a healthy conversation going.
Well, that's it from us in today's weekend pill, Like if you loved it, subscribe to support us & Share if you learned something new.
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Twitter
Disclaimer
The above information is to spread financial literacy. We are not SEBI registered financial advisors, kindly consult your financial advisor before making any investment decision.
Comments