Battery based vehicles of today and tomorrow pt 2

[MinnesotaEric]

Apart from the metals that go into the EVs themselves, we also need to double the size of our electric grid to accommodate our existing EV policy by 2030.

To do that we need

3x as much copper
4x as much chromium
4x as much aluminum
10x as much nickel
18x as much graphite.

And we need to do this within eight years.

 

[wawajake]

Apart from the metals that go into the EVs themselves, we also need to double the size of our electric grid to accommodate our existing EV policy by 2030.

To do that we need

3x as much copper
4x as much chromium
4x as much aluminum
10x as much nickel
18x as much graphite.

And we need to do this within eight years.

Exactly, and the countries that will push their mines to market hard , will be the countries we least want to support their regimes ( Russia and China) ....

 

[airbiscuit]

The countries we least want to support ...

 

[wawajake]

The countries we least want to support ...

View attachment 784965

Poor deflection......both Canada and USA with the right Govs have shown in past they can be almost self sufficient. But present Govs are making EV plans that assume minerals they need are easy to get, but they obviously won't be , and the public and our present North American leaders need to wise up.

 

[WinterDeere]

Apart from the metals that go into the EVs themselves, we also need to double the size of our electric grid to accommodate our existing EV policy by 2030.

To do that we need

3x as much copper
4x as much chromium
4x as much aluminum
10x as much nickel
18x as much graphite.

And we need to do this within eight years.

With that sort of spending on the horizon, you'd have to think one might do well steering their investments toward companies or funds most likely to benefit.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

With that sort of spending on the horizon, you'd have to think one might do well steering their investments toward companies or funds most likely to benefit.

Peter Zeihan, who is an old-style geo-political-military analyst (like we used to have during the cold war), went into a discussion of where and what technologies the greenies should be looking at investing in and he concluded that it wasn't EVs. Instead, where the money should be allocated, Peter began with a discussion the greenies are starting to have that they should have had fifteen years ago: Germany has spent 2/3rds more money on solar than California but California gets five times the power because it is sunny in California, but not so sunny in Germany. So location matters insofar as returns on dollars spent.

Peter suggested solar in the Southwest, with money spent on transmission lines to the immediate outlying areas outside of good solar and wind in the Great Plains up to Alberta. But my observation is that wind in the northern states must be shut down during freezes because these wind turbines are essentially giant hydraulic pumps, and hydro oil must be warm enough to not screw the machinery up. As such, wind should be focused on the lower Great Plains, where it can be run longer and more efficiently—but anticipate cold spells so as to avoid the winter fiasco that happened in Texas in the winters of 2021-22.

 

[NoTrespassing]

MSN

 

[NoTrespassing]

Apart from the metals that go into the EVs themselves, we also need to double the size of our electric grid to accommodate our existing EV policy by 2030.

To do that we need

3x as much copper
4x as much chromium
4x as much aluminum
10x as much nickel
18x as much graphite.

And we need to do this within eight years.

I just recently became less concerned with "the grid". My neighbor just installed enough solar panels to completely offset his entire power consumption. I see a lot of people doing that in my rural area, far more than are buying EVs. Maybe this is a drop in the bucket but I think it's more than a drop, probably more like a gallon into the 5 gallon bucket.

With our power bill averaging $100 per month, solar would never pay off for us. He will spend about $15k after rebates. He still has to pay for the meter every month.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I just recently became less concerned with "the grid". My neighbor just installed enough solar panels to completely offset his entire power consumption. I see a lot of people doing that in my rural area, far more than are buying EVs. Maybe this is a drop in the bucket but I think it's more than a drop, probably more like a gallon into the 5 gallon bucket.

It makes sense if you can use the grid as your battery and run your meter backward when creating excess power. However, increasingly, grids are starting to charge people for the use of the grid and offset the savings of installing solar panels.

Worse, solar panels drop in efficiency over time, so the ROI drops over time extending the break-even point out further and further.

 

[5030]

Problem with panels is, the raw materials also come from questionable sources plus they do degrade over time and once degraded, become haz mat materials.