Building a Sustainable Electric Vehicle Battery Supply Chain: Frequently Asked Questions
Overview
As the first step in this initiative, in April 2020 CLEE and NRGI prepared a background brief to address key questions such as:
- What does the supply chain for EV batteries comprise?
- How do carbon emissions from EVs compare to those from traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles?
- What are the most significant challenges associated with managing the mineral extraction processes necessary for the EV supply chain, and what sustainability and human rights initiatives apply to these challenges?
The FAQ brief includes a number of preliminary findings, such as:
- The greenhouse gas emissions benefits of EVs are clear and will grow as global electricity supplies become increasingly less carbon-intensive.
- The supply chain is complex and subject to a number of potential bottlenecks where few countries or companies are responsible for dominant shares of production.
- Various stages of the supply chain in locations around the world present sustainability risks, from low-level corruption to displacement of local populations, but these risks are not unique to EV mineral extraction–and a number of global initiatives are working to address them.
- However, supply chain players will need to significantly improve coordination and data-sharing efforts to achieve long-term sustainability.