What’s powering your EV?
Electric mobility, the social implications of cobalt, and the future of battery science.
called it “the blood diamond of batteries”. With child labor abuses and other human rights issues, the mining of cobalt for the growing electric vehicle market has made sustainable growth an unsustainable problem.
Seventy percent of the world’s cobalt resources come from mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the element remains a key component in electric car batteries. Demand is only projected to increase in the next decade. By 2030, the world will need between a year to keep up with demand. But is that the only way forward?
“People want electric vehicles for many different reasons, including ethical ones... Yet the growing market for electric cars may be causing harm to people in one of the world’s most vulnerable countries.”
— The World Economic Forum, 2018
EV market growth
By 2025, , beyond 2040, it will be 100%. With major companies like General Motors committing to , and Hyundai announcing the construction of a , this isn’t a rose-tinted view, it’s the exponential reality.
Of the battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids. (PHEVs) on the road in 2020, more than Europe accounted for more than 32% and the United States for 17%.
Powering forward with EV charging
The global electric vehicle charging station market size was . By 2030, it is projected to reach over USD 123.12 billion. With the largest market in the Asia Pacific region, North America and Europe are the fastest growing with a compound annual growth rate of over 30% (2022–2030). The number of charging points worldwide was estimated to be approximately , up 44% from 2017. Most of this increase was in private charging points but public stations still hold the largest segment of the market.
Advances in technology are delivering substantial cost cuts with key enablers in the development of battery chemistry and expansion of production capacity in manufacturing plants. EVs are going further on a single charge, charging faster, and becoming more attainable for everyday drivers.
The role of cobalt
One of the main metallurgic components in existing electric vehicle batteries is cobalt. The 27th periodic element has a long history of use in everything from tool steels to lithium-ion batteries. You’re probably inches away from a small quantity of cobalt right now — hint, it’s boosting the battery life on the device you’re reading this article on.
When a device using a lithium-ion battery is being charged, lithium ions flow from cathode to anode and are collected by the negative current collector. Cobalt is used in the cathode because it The stable lithium cobalt oxide prevents excess oxygen molecules that could cause the battery to combust.
Cobalt and lithium demands are expected to rise significantly in the coming years, mainly due to the boom in EVs. Globally the market will require (30%) more cobalt per year by 2025 just to keep up. Cobalt supplies would need to scale up substantially to enable this projected demand, and while many to the use of this metal among human rights concerns, this transition is deemed necessary to make the jump to a world of electric mobility.
But if cobalt is working, why are companies so concerned? Aside from the potential cost benefits of finding a cheaper solution, the main toll is on human rights — especially in the realm of child labor.
Cobalt and the DRC
Sixty percent of global cobalt resources are in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and more than and production takes place there. of that production is from artisanal and small-scale mining (ASMs) where independent miners extract the materials and then through intermediaries sell them to bigger mining corporations.
This is a big issue since the prevalence of these ASMs in the supply chain makes it harder to implement widespread responsible sourcing practices. It is also impossible to know the true extent of violations of child labor in the DRC because a comprehensive child labor survey has never been conducted.
The social implications
The DRC government has established laws and regulations related to child labor, however, gaps exist in the legal framework to adequately protect children from child labor, including its compulsory education age.
UNICEF estimates that only Low rates of birth registration leave children at increased risk of subjection to child labor because it makes age verification difficult.
Research by UNICEF estimates that in 2012 there were about
In eastern Congo’s conflict-affected regions, Thousands of children also work in cobalt and copper mines in the DRC’s southern Copperbelt region. Child labor has been detected at one in four ASM sites in the DRC, in some instances
The first of its kind class-action lawsuit
In 2019, saying their children were killed or maimed while mining cobalt used by these companies. Field research conducted by anti-slavery economist Siddharth Kara was presented as evidence of the aiding and abetting of brutalities against children these companies were alleged to have profited from through the supply chain.
On 2 November 2021, the US District Court for the District of Columbia claiming insufficient evidence of direct harm caused by these companies who benefitted from the end product.
The court stated, “it takes many analytical leaps to say that the end-purchasers of a fungible metal are responsible for the conditions in which that metal might or might not have been mined, especially when that mining took place thousands of miles away and flowed through many independent companies…”
Big tech fights back
In 2019, in response to the pressure from human rights groups, big tech firms including Volkswagen, BMW, and Samsung launched the (C4D) initiative to formalize the ASM sector in Congo. The initiative has goals to strengthen the legal compliance, health and safety conditions, and social well-being of cobalt mining in the region.
But is this all too little too late?
Electric vehicle demand is projected to continue its exponential increase with The cost of Lithium-ion batteries to power these cars have inversely decreased substantially over time. Without concrete steps to monitor and mitigate labor rights abuses globally and investment into regulated infrastructure in mining nations like DRC, this trend will also see child labor increase and put more and more children at risk.
Global labor regulations and positive investment to the right parties are necessary for the long-term growth of this industry. Growth, especially sustainable growth, shouldn’t sacrifice human rights. We need to monitor and mitigate abuses of labor rights globally and invest in the regulation of infrastructure in mining nations like the Democratic Republic of Congo.
That’s a great short-term strategy, but in the longer term, this industry can’t scale fast enough while ensuring human safety and well-being. We need to look for alternatives in order to meet battery development needs.
What is the alternative?
The wants to eliminate cobalt in EV batteries by 2030. Industry will no doubt succeed far sooner — an inevitable requirement if they hope to avoid the human rights issues that will likely continue to knock and outpace their competitors.
Major contributions to the discussion on cobalt, lithium-ion batteries, and the human rights implications — like that from The New York Times in their — have focused on the solution to being somewhere in the cobalt supply line. While some manufacturers have found a way to phase out cobalt — – the trade-off is pushing the innovation envelope that precipitates the industry transition. Shorter range vehicles are far less appealing to drivers who are trading up.
Reduce, reuse, recycle
By 2030, a combined of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese could be recovered through (most of which is currently done by China where only ). Of this amount, cobalt would account for only 34,000 tonnes with at least 80% sourced from batteries. At best, this seemingly helpful amount would in reality account for only 15% of the total needed cobalt by 2030.
A new class of power
, co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery and Nobel laureate in Chemistry may be our to cobalt use. Using a , this ‘Quantum Glass’ battery is more energy-dense, safer, and can charge than lithium-ion batteries. They’re also more stable and prevent the issues of internal fires and explosions — looking at you, .
Traditional lithium-ion batteries are layered and incorporate a combination of liquid lithium, cobalt, and oxygen. Rather than layers, Quantum Glass batteries use a “rock salt” structure and incorporate elements like manganese and iron instead of cobalt. The battery uses these solid ceramic or ‘glass’ electrolytes as a as the battery charges and discharges.
Moving beyond cobalt
Manganese is more affordable, more ethical to source, and safer than cobalt-based batteries and currently looks to be among the best-known solutions. But with more companies and governments dedicating themselves to electric futures, new advancements are emerging every day. The next innovation in batteries is likely just around the corner.
The question is, what or who will power the EVs of tomorrow?
