18

Although lithium is very abundant in sea water, only lithium mineral extraction seems to be economically viable. The world's total reserves in lithium minerals is estimated at 13.5 Mt (not sure whether this refers to the weight of the mineral or its lithium content), according to Wikipedia. People often cite lithium scarcity as a reason why not everyone can have an electric vehicle.

Is that really true?

I can think of two circumstances under which the claim can be wrong:

  1. Lithium isn't so scarce, after all.
  2. Availability of Lithium isn't that crucial. (I.e., alternative, lithium-independent, energy storage designs exist)

I'm looking for reputable sources that support either of the above.

wnrph
  • 289
  • 1
  • 7
  • 2
    I don't know enough about the chemistry and engineering challenges to post a full answer, but there are companies developing sodium ion batteries that have similar energy to weight ratios as lithium ion, and use a massively more abundant metal. Example article - http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/09/the-innovators-cheaper-batteries-could-help-electric-cars-hit-the-mainstream – user56reinstatemonica8 Nov 05 '15 at 14:41
  • Ive removed the 2 very off-topic questions, leaving the one which I believe *could* be on topic. – Jamiec Nov 05 '15 at 15:23
  • I am not sure if the question is on topic at all, since you do not doubt a specific claim, but do you count cars running on fuel produced with electric energy (like hydrogen or synthetic hydrocarbons) as electric cars? If so, and even ignoring that there is plenty of research in battery research, there is absolutely no need for lithium to build an electric car. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Nov 06 '15 at 10:09
  • The biggest barrier to electric cars is that battery technology still isn't that great. It doesn't beat the energy density of gasoline and it takes hours to recharge. – Robert Stiffler Nov 07 '15 at 07:55
  • @RobertStiffler I agree. This also means a solution to the bigger problem will very likely solve the scarcity problem, if real, too. – wnrph Nov 07 '15 at 10:48
  • Somebody might invent a better battery but that doesn't mean it will solve the scarcity problem. The new battery might use a material that is even more scarce than lithium. – Robert Stiffler Nov 07 '15 at 11:25
  • @RobertStiffler ... which is why this new battery might not be invented in the first place :-) – wnrph Nov 07 '15 at 11:44
  • @jamiec I rephrased my original question. Hope that suits your taste better. [We want to confirm or disprove real claims that many people think are true.](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1505/faq-welcome-to-new-users) I'd like to point to possible ways of disproving what many people think is true, hoping that it will add to the quality level of my question. – wnrph Nov 07 '15 at 12:02
  • I blame popular culture. About the only time I heard that a scarcity of lithium holds back the electric car (before I read this question, that is), was in Alan Moores "Watchman" were this claim is made by the fictional Dr. Manhattan. In fact the first two hits on Google (the third being this question) for "lithium scarcity electric car" say "scaremongering about scarcity is misguided" (mining.com) and "for now the world has enough proven lithium reserves" (batteryuniversity.com) respectively. –  Nov 08 '15 at 18:15
  • @eike There was some coverage back in 2008 and 2009 in [France](http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2008/10/07/les-ressources-limitees-de-lithium-pourraient-freiner-l-essor-des-voitures-electriques_1103972_3244.html), [Germany](http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/technik/rares-element-lithium-mangel-bedroht-die-auto-revolution-a-649579.html), [UK](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/jul/31/motoring.energy) and [USA](http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/02/03/peak-lithium-will-supply-fears-drive-alternative-batteries/) about possible shortages in lithium production. – wnrph Nov 09 '15 at 08:35
  • @Tor-EinarJarnbjo The specific claim goes like this: "There is not enough lithium available to produce enough electric cars for everyone". This does not refer to cars running on hydrogen or hydrocarbons, of course. Cars running on hydrogen are usually refered to as [hydrogen cars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_car). Cars running on electric energy produced by an internal combustion engine running on hydrocarbons are usually refered to as [hybrid cars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_car). – wnrph Nov 09 '15 at 08:48
  • The real reason people are resistant to electric cars has very, very, very little to do with rational reasons (cost is the only real barrier, at present). Pundits like these are just making excuses. – Ernie Mar 17 '16 at 18:26

1 Answers1

12

No, lithium scarcity is not a barrier to the take-up of electric vehicles.

From Bloomberg:

The world’s largest untapped lithium reserve -- containing enough of the lightest metal to make batteries for more than 4.8 billion electric cars ... according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

410 gone
  • 4,701
  • 30
  • 45
  • Good answer, you could maybe improve it further by adding a quote or two confirming that those lithium reserves in Bolivia are indeed capable of realistically being mined – user56reinstatemonica8 Nov 05 '15 at 16:47
  • 2
    @user568458 that's what "reserves" means. Saying that reserves can realistically be mined is like saying that available edible food can realistically be eaten. It's true, and it's redundant. Were you perhaps thinking of "deposits"? – 410 gone Nov 05 '15 at 17:36
  • @EnergyNumbers Thank you for that article, although it seems a bit outdated. Interestingly enough, it mentions the US geological survey. The [2008 issue](http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lithium/mcs-2008-lithi.pdf) lists the bolivian reserves only under "Reserve base", which means they are not neccessarily economically exploitable with current-day technology. Besides that, it's unclear whether and under which assuptions, the authors of the Bloomberg derived the 4.8 billion cars figure. I could find it in the geology surveys only where the Bloomberg article was actually cited. – wnrph Nov 07 '15 at 11:15