E-car batteries
Any materials that are mined from the Earth are eventually
going to run out. Most of these materials also cause some kind of pollution,
even going back to the mining of coal, we suffered years of pollution in the
coal mining areas.
We then discovered oil and same problems occurred, We have
had massive pollution problems since its discovery. But like anything else we
have to way out the pros and cons of these materials and probably have to take
a hit on the chin, because the advantages will out way the disadvantages.
We in the west have cleaned up our act as regards the
pollution caused, but the developing countries which includes China will be
taking the brunt of the new generation pollutants, that are involving in our
strive for a greener planet.
I recently saw a TV documentary about China's coal reserves
and mountains of stacked coal mountains stretched to the horizon as far as the
eye could see, it made our Northern England coal stacks look like ant hills.
The same happened with lead acid car and truck batteries
(and all other lead acid batteries for that matter). They were produced in
unregulated factories and the waste products were just emptied into the rivers,
the pollution caused was horrific. Eventually the Chinese authorities clamp
down on these companies due to outside pressure and only the ones with proper
environmental controls were allowed to continue producing these batteries.
Graphite used to make Litium-Ion car batteries
The same is now happening in the mining of graphite, an
important and indeed vital component in the making of the batteries that are
used in electric car batteries such as the ones used in Toyota's electric Prius
cars as well as other important gadgets now used, these include i-Phones.
This is turning out to be the same story as the lead acid
batteries. The mines that produce the graphite are
This has caused the Chinese authorities to do the same as
the lead acid plants and closing some of them down, This is a problem for the
growing demand for the graphite as the rest of the World surges on with its
quest for a greener planet.
Each electric car uses as much as 50 kg of graphite in the
battery production and this move by China is expected to increase the price of
graphite by as much as 30%, this year alone, causing a headache amongst the
World's electric battery battery manufacturers.
Eric Roberts
Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the
Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. I have worked for a
couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before tarting my first
business. I now own a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called
Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with
cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of
Point-S and
