How Green are Automotive Lithium-Ion Batteries?

This post , part of a series we ’re running all aboutelectric motorcar , was written by Kristen Hall - Geisler from HowStuffWorks.com .

Fossil fuel ( like gas and diesel ) are running out and getting a bad pat for nasty tailpipe emissions – and rightly so . As governing and consumers demand newfangled fuel and higher gas mileage , raw source of power , like batteries , are coming into play . The up-to-the-minute in battery technology is atomic number 3 - ion , and it ’s being used in the electric gondola and intercrossed car of the future . Lithium - ion batteries are lighter than previous assault and battery engineering science and they entertain a charge a lot longer , too .

So , where does lithium come from ? It come from the Earth , of class , but it does n’t require strip mining or blowing the cover off sight like other resource do . In fact , according to Reuters , most of the lithium on Earth is in South America , specifically in the Andes Mountains that run through Chile , Argentina and Li market newcomer , Bolivia . There are also deposit in China and the U.S. , some of which are mine traditionally from the rock .

But most often , Li is found inbriny underground ponds . The liquid state is pumped out and left to dry out in the sun . The result material is made into Li carbonate and then processed into just lithium . This process accounts for a small part of an electrical car ’s overall environmental impact ; the fuzz and aluminum used in the battery really do more damage . The atomic number 3 is then brought to a battery works via plane , train , truck and boat – none of which are using Li - ion barrage fire themselves right now . Fossil fuel are severe to deflect at this point in the range of mountains .

The plant assembles the batteries , and the batteries are placed in an electric fomite , which has zero expelling . Electric car do n’t even need tailpipes , since there ’s nothing but electrical energy coming out of the batteries .

Even after old age of service of process in an galvanising vehicle , lithium - ion battery still have a lot to give . It can often still hold as much as 80 per centum of its thrill , so it can be pressed into help as power memory for the power system , say , in conjunction with wind farm , according to TreeHugger .

All good thing must amount to an end , but atomic number 3 - ion batteries believe in life after death . When they ’re really at the remainder of their usefulness , the batteries can be taken apart and their fleck reuse . Tesla , for example , recycle the cooling fluid , wires and electronics in its barrage fire . The rest is smash to smithereens , melt down , sort into component metal and recycled .

Lithium - ion battery recycling facilities are coming online , but it ’ll take prison term for them to really rage up . The battery themselves , and the vehicles that expend them , are just now coming to mart . Any recycler who builds now will be ready when the first round of cells is ready for its next life .