Warnings against e-car raw material scarcity exaggerated – think tank

German industry association BDI’s warning that the country lacks sufficient access to the raw materials needed for large-scale production of electric cars are exaggerated, think tank Agora Verkehrswende* says. Think tank head Christian Hochfeld told the Frankfurter Rundschau that the resources needed for a rapid worldwide increase in e-car production, such as cobalt, lithium or platinum, were abundantly available, although some supply bottlenecks could not be ruled out. “The more efficient the e-cars are, the safer we are from unwanted surprises,” Hochfeld argues, saying that better recycling guidelines in the European Union could help prevent resource shortages for battery production. E-car battery production could increase the demand for certain raw materials by up to 50 times, according to a study commissioned by Agora Verkehrswende.

See the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers for more information.

*Like the Clean Energy Wire, Agora Verkehrswende is a project funded by the Mercator Foundation and the European Climate Foundation.