Explore the human and environmental resources needed to make an electric vehicle

Explore a series of articles on the costs of critical mineral extraction

The acquisition of critical minerals—essential materials for clean energy technologies—has often been accompanied by harm to water supplies, natural ecosystems, and Indigenous lands, raising questions about the overall benefit of these technologies.

View the five most expensive metals used to make batteries

Before 2021, when lithium carbonate became the most expensive metal for use in electric vehicle cathodes, cobalt was the most costly battery metal. Of the top five, copper is the only metal not used in cathodes, arguably the most important part of the battery, which determines performance, longevity, and range.

Growing EV adoption requires battery management infrastructure

Despite rechargeable batteries' limited life cycle, companies like Spiers New Technologies have developed methods to repair, refurbish, repurpose and recycle these components to minimize environmental waste, lower demand for new critical minerals, and increase electric vehicle lifetimes.

How lithium has become one of the world's most important elements

Lithium is the driving force behind electric vehicles as the key element in the lithium-ion batteries that power the cars. But as demand for EVs rises, will global lithium supply keep pace with demand? This report projects demand will reach up to four million metric tons of the mineral compound containing lithium by 2030, with batteries accounting for 95% of end-use applications.

Watch how metals are extracted from rechargeable devices during recycling

Recyclable batteries found in cars, phones, power tools, and other electronics contain lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other precious metals, whose reuse generates 70% fewer emissions than during their initial mining. Upon shredding these devices, a filter press squeezes the pieces through a proprietary fluid, which separates them for future reuse.

A visual exploration of the environmental impacts and uncertain demand for deep-sea mining

While models suggest demand for crucial metals is expected to exceed supply through 2050, new battery technologies, such as those that require no nickel or cobalt, introduce uncertainty that opponents of deep-sea mining see as not worth the risk of certain environmental damage, which includes noise and light pollution and the release of toxic plumes from mining equipment.

Visualize the minerals used in a lithium-ion battery

The lithium cathode includes nickel to increase energy storage per unit volume, as well as cobalt and manganese as stabilizing agents. Anodes are composed entirely of graphite, with aluminum and copper composing the current collectors for the cathode and anode, respectively. The battery is enclosed in a steel casing.

Clean energy technologies are more mineral-intensive than burning fossil fuels

Solar panels use silver due to its high conductivity, hydropower plants use chromium in their steel alloys, and geothermal plants need titanium to withstand abundant heat and pressure. Lithium—used in energy storage—is expected to see over 500% increased demand from 2020 to 2025.

Why everyone is racing to get rare earth minerals

Rare earth minerals are crucial for high-tech electronics and transitioning to new energy sources. China currently dominates rare earth processing capacity, but the US is seeking to increase its mineral production by using its geopolitical influence to strike international mineral agreements with nations like Ukraine.

Beyond critical minerals, copper is emerging as a bottleneck to clean energy

Copper remains invaluable for the transmission of electricity needed in energy infrastructure projects, with 90% of the average circuit board made of the element. However, limited smelting capacity and low ore quality amid increasing demands are stressing global supplies.

Tesla plans to eliminate the use of rare earth elements in future vehicles

At a 2023 Investor Day event, Elon Musk outlined steps to focus Tesla's efforts on climate action rather than new vehicle models. Musk estimates the transition to carbon-free, sustainable energy will cost $10T.

Electric vehicle systems run on five key components

The system is made up of a charger—converting AC into DC—a battery, a power control unit, motor(s), and a single gear. A complex gearbox is not needed because electric motors are efficient at operating across a range of speeds.

Rare earth elements may be extracted from mine waste and coal ash

Rather than focusing solely on new mining operations, which can take decades to establish, some startups are developing methods to extract these metals from the toxic waste of existing operations and thereby minimize environmental impacts. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Electric vehicles have been around since the 19th century

The first EVs ran on rechargeable lead-acid batteries, which could travel 60 to 80 miles on a single charge. Women preferred these vehicles, which were quieter, less smelly, and did not require turning a hand crank to start the engine.

Watch a tour of a battery manufacturing gigafactory

Inside Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited's facility, China's largest EV battery manufacturer uses slurry mixing, "jelly rolling," electrolyte injection, and other techniques and equipment to transform raw metals such as lithium and magnesium into approximately 2.2 million electrochemical cells daily.

A pair of engineers began Tesla to prove the viability of electric vehicles

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning sought to design a high-end electric sports car for environmentally motivated, affluent buyers. The Tesla Roadster would be the first highway-legal car to use lithium-ion batteries.

The benefits of 3D printing batteries, from safety to sustainability

Rather than using the liquid electrolyte commonly found in lithium-ion batteries, 3D-printed batteries would use a solid layer, which can be custom-built into different shapes, deliver higher energy density by building thinner layers, and be fabricated with fewer raw materials compared to injection molding.

Accidental ingestion of batteries can be life-threatening

Tissue in the body can serve as a circuit path between the anode and cathode of a battery, resulting in electrical burns and gradual tissue erosion. Stomach acid can corrode a battery and cause its toxic contents to leak, making a person sick. Batteries for internal use, such as in pacemakers, require special designs.

Audi spent over three years developing engine sounds for its electric vehicles

Unlike the sounds made by combustion engines in gas-powered vehicles, electric cars produce no motor sounds. The company's acoustics team worked with composer Rudolf Helpmier to craft an electric-inspired revving sound for its R8 e-tron supercar.

Explore a map of every charging station in the US and Canada

An electric vehicle owner's main fear running out of power before getting to their final destination. Using this interactive, users may identify stations and their charger type to map fuel corridors for EV road trips.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Learn how to build your own vivarium

Creating a self-contained habitat for plants and microscopic animals requires a careful balance of organisms that maintain a cycle of water, nutrients, and other chemicals throughout. Bottlenecks in these cycles are mitigated through careful construction, such as incorporating a drainage layer to effectively manage water.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Volcanic activity can lead to the formation of fertile soils

Ejected rock can introduce key minerals found in fertilizers, including iron, magnesium, and potassium, to improve soil quality. Ash and basalt crystals can be easily absorbed into soils, infusing them with sulfur, oxygen, chlorine, phosphorus, calcium, and other critical elements.

The Baghdad battery shows no evidence of use as a battery

The 2,000-year-old clay jar held an iron rod inside a copper cylinder and could have generated electricity if filled with an available electrolyte, such as grape juice. Before the jar was looted during the US invasion of Iraq, preventing further study, experts suggested it most likely housed scrolls.

Salt is harvested from briny ocean water and underground deposits

Mostly sodium chloride, this compound is produced for human use by collecting seawater in shallow pans and allowing the Sun to evaporate the water until crystals remain. Underground rock salt is mined, crushed, and purified from deposits left behind by ancient seas that have dried-up.

There's a bitcoin mine in remote Zambia

In Zambia, a small hydropower plant draws water to power a town of 15,000 people—and a bitcoin mine. A shipping container containing 120 computers mining bitcoin—solving complex calculations to win the reward of several bitcoin—was set up near the plant to use its cheap electricity, and share its revenue.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Scientists have struggled to pin down Ebola's natural reservoir species for decades, but the available evidence suggests that it's very likely fruit and insect-eating bats found in Africa.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) generated controversy, raised concerns about ethics in photography, and eventually led to the photographer's death.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.