By the TessDrive team
Any technology that is developed and intended for mass production or scaled up to global use always has to inevitably face the difficult questions surrounding its production. Is it sustainable? Is it beneficial for its human consumers, but at the same time doesn’t add any more strain on the planet and its non-human inhabitants? The path to a more environmentally harmonious and sustainable future is not without its challenges, and a clear-eyed view of the ethical and environmental hurdles in emerging technologies and systems—such as the ones that make the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain run—is a prerequisite in order to stay in this path.
And arguably, one of the most contentious of these technologies in the EV industry revolves around the very energy source of the vehicle: The battery.
The battery dilemma: Cobalt and Lithium
The high-capacity lithium-ion batteries that power modern EVs rely on key minerals, primarily lithium and cobalt. The extraction of these materials is fraught with environmental and ethical concerns that cannot be ignored.
The majority of the world’s cobalt supply—over 60%—is sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a region where the mining industry is plagued by severe human rights issues. Reports have documented the use of child labor and hazardous working conditions, where miners, including children, work in dangerous artisanal mines with little to no safety equipment. Environmentally, cobalt mining can lead to the release of toxic metals into the local ecosystem, degrading the land and water sources for nearby communities.
The automotive industry is not blind to this dilemma. In response to intense scrutiny, leading manufacturers are taking significant steps to clean up their supply chains. This is happening on two main fronts:
o Reducing and eliminating cobalt: Companies like Tesla have publicly stated their goal is to move towards cobalt-free battery chemistries. This technological push is driving innovation in battery design to reduce or completely eliminate reliance on the problematic mineral;
o Increasing transparency and auditing: For the cobalt that is still required, companies are implementing rigorous tracking and auditing systems. Polestar, for example, uses blockchain technology to trace risk materials like cobalt, lithium, and mica back to the mine, ensuring that its suppliers adhere to strict social and environmental standards. This push for transparency is a critical step in holding suppliers accountable and driving reform on the ground.
Closing the loop: The dawn of battery recycling
While reducing the impact of mining is crucial, the ultimate long-term solution to the battery dilemma is to create a closed-loop, circular economy through recycling. An EV battery is not a disposable component like a tank of gasoline; it is a dense repository of valuable and reusable minerals. As the first generation of modern EVs reaches the end of its life, a massive new industry is emerging to harvest these materials.
Companies like Redwood Materials, founded by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, and Li-Cycle are at the forefront of this revolution. They have developed advanced hydro- and pyrometallurgical processes that can recover up to 98% of the critical minerals in a battery pack, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper. These recovered materials are then refined to battery-grade purity and sold back to manufacturers to build new batteries.
The implications of this are transformative. A robust battery recycling infrastructure will drastically reduce the need for new mining. By creating a sustainable, domestic source of battery materials, it lessens the environmental and ethical burden of extraction. It will lower the carbon footprint of battery production. Using recycled materials is significantly less energy-intensive than mining and refining virgin ore, which in turn lowers the initial carbon debt of a new EV. It will also enhance supply chain stability, reducing the geopolitical risks and price volatility associated with relying on a handful of countries for critical raw materials.
The challenges of the EV supply chain are real, but they are not an inherent, permanent flaw. Instead, they are acting as a powerful catalyst, forcing the industry to innovate at an incredible pace. The ethical problems associated with mining are directly fueling the development of both cobalt-free batteries and a world-class recycling industry. This process is creating something the fossil fuel industry could never achieve: A truly circular and sustainable economic model, where the end of one product’s life is the direct source for the beginning of the next. This is not just a story of problems; it is a story of solutions taking shape.