EV batteries use lithium, but its impact is dwarfed by the ongoing environmentally disastrous oil spills like Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez which wrecked 4,000 miles of coastline. Don’t see any faux outrage for that.
Coal-powered electricity for EVs is utter nonsense. Coal imports are down while new EV car sales have risen to 20%!
Mr Barnes decries diesel-powered coal shipping but ignores shipping of five times that volume imported petroleum products, plus the oil spill risk to our coasts!
Modern EV batteries last over 300,000km, not your ludicrous claim of six years. After that, they have another life of 20 years as home energy storage to ease peak electricity demand. Finally, 95% of materials, including lithium are recycled.
EVs are 20 times less likely to catch fire than highly flammable petrol-powered cars.
Mr Sanders, your concerns about cobalt are misplaced. Most EV batteries use cobalt-free lithium iron phosphate (LFP). New sodium-ion batteries are also lithium and cobalt-free. Where’s your faux outrage that cobalt is used in refining petrol?
And conveniently silent are EV critics on NZ’s 300+ premature deaths and thousands of hospitalisations yearly from petrol/diesel pollution costing $15.7 billion per year, and $7 billion spent annually on imported fuel, all of which EVs avoid. EVs are demonstrably better for our economy, environment and our health. It’s time to ditch fearmongering and embrace a cleaner future.
