The transition to electric vehicles will require huge investments into mining for the key resources that go into batteries
Electric vehicles are quickly becoming mainstream as government subsidies, company investments and consumer demand speed up the transition away from internal combustion engines.
But with the world electrifying, will we have enough natural resources to meet this surging demand? The answer is yes, though investments in extraction and processing will need to be ramped up and there are important environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) considerations that will need to be addressed to make the shift sustainable.
Given current policy scenarios, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates the global stock of EV cars will surge to 125 million in 2030 from around 10 million in 2020. Under a sustainable development scenario (where the world reaches net-zero emissions by 2070), this figure could be more than 200 million units.
This is still nowhere close to replacing the 1.3 billion vehicles on the road currently, but the future of transportation may involve more public transit and far fewer individual cars than what we see these days. Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles will be with us for several decades more, likely not phased out until mid-century.
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