What happen to electric car batteries

The materials for the battery of your future electric car will be extracted from the bottom of the ocean

Underwater mining is called to play a leading role in the process of massification of the electric vehicle. The companies are striving to position themselves in a key industry for the development of the electric car. At the bottom of the ocean there are significant amounts of raw materials necessary for the manufacture of batteries for electric cars.

Mining companies are going to great lengths to obtain the raw materials needed for electric vehicle batteries , even from miles below the ocean surface. The behemoths of the mining industry are racing to tap into these deep sea reserves, striking deals, developing mining processes and equipment, and just as importantly striving to be green.

Meanwhile, environmental groups want to slow the rush by mining companies until more information is available about the impact on this largely untouched area. Several automakers have joined a moratorium on sourcing metals from underwater mining.

The treasure hidden in the depths of the oceans

Vast fields of rocks containing high concentrations of nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese cover what are known as abyssal plains . All of them are raw materials necessary for the manufacture of batteries for electric cars. Some essential resources to materialize the process of change to the electric vehicle that the automotive industries of Europe and the United States have initiated.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the area constitutes 70% of the ocean floor and is found at depths of more than 3 kilometers. It is the largest habitat on Earth.

Pebble- or potato-sized rocks lining the seafloor, called polymetallic nodules, contain much more nickel and cobalt than terrestrial reserves. Land mining of these materials is hampered by dependence on China, environmental impact and the use of slave labor in Africa.

There are 274 million metric tons of nickel within a 2.7 million square kilometer area of ​​the Pacific Ocean known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (between Mexico and Hawaii), according to a Nature report published in 2020. A figure that contrasts with the 95 million metric tons of existing known land reserves . It also highlights that there are 44 million metric tons of cobalt on the seabed compared to 7.5 million on land.

New technologies to obtain raw materials from the seabed

The acceleration of the transition process to the electric vehicle has triggered a fever for the so-called "underwater gold". Mining companies are developing technologies like tractor-sized vacuum cleaners and autonomous robots to collect the polymetallic nodules.

Obtaining tons of rocks at a depth of 3 or more km below the surface of the sea may seem like a complex and expensive process, but the truth is that much of the technology is already developed thanks to the companies that operate the oil platforms that exist in the world. high seas.

Underwater mining has not yet been developed on a large scale. An expected benefit is that the process includes loading ore mined from the seabed onto ships. This will save steps in the supply chain. Cobalt, for example, is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and subsequently shipped to South Africa, where it is shipped to China on ships for further processing. The cobalt, once treated, is sent to battery factories.

The ecological impact of underwater mining

BMW, Volkswagen, Volvo, Google and Samsung have signed a moratorium and have promised not to obtain minerals from the seabed until the ecological impact is clarified . Major environmental organizations like Greenpeace also advocate waiting. However, there are certain entities and countries that are supporting this practice. The Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority has awarded three exploration permits to mineral companies this year. The island nation of Nauru also plans to request permits from the international authority with the aim of exploiting these resources from 2023.

Proponents of underwater mining argue that it is less problematic given the location of the resources on land and its associated environmental, geopolitical and labor problems. Experts point out that any type of seabed mining ultimately eliminates both species and habitat.

Different investigations are currently being carried out with the aim of obtaining the necessary information to reach a clear conclusion about the effects of mining on marine habitats and species. General Motors, one of the colossi of the US automotive industry, does not rule out betting on underwater mining. However, he warns that an evaluation based on science and based on environmental footprint data will be carried out beforehand.