We see EV research every week. If the methodology used can sometimes be questionable in certain cases, in particular because the number of parameters to take into account is gigantic, these studies often highlight points that we ignore.

The latest is published in the Med & Italian Energy Report 2023, published by SRM, a research center associated with the Intesa Sanpaolo group (an independent Italian bank). This research was presented to the European Parliament this week highlights the amount of raw materials considered “critical” for the production of an electric vehicle.

Up to 6 times more critical materials in an electric car

According to this study, an electric car contains on average 207 kg of various mineralsagainst 33.6 kg for a traditional thermal machine.

The study distinguishes critical raw materials from rare earth materials (scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and 14 others used in the automotive industry for permanent magnet motor rotors). The study also takes into account the materials needed to manufacture the entire ecosystem around the electric vehicle.

For example, a solar PV system requires a lot of copper, wind turbines also rely on copper, rare earth elements, manganese and nickel, while lithium-ion batteries use all important materials except platinum and rare earth elements, and electric motors require copper and rare earth elements. Another element highlighted in the study is that the production of an offshore wind turbine requires 9 times more raw materials than a coal-fired gas plant.

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But where are these minerals? The largest shares of cobalt in Congo (66%), lithium in Australia (54%), natural graphite (65%) and rare earth metals (65%) in China and platinum in South Africa (72%).

In this context, the study emphasizes “Mediterranean countries, and European ones in particular, have limited availability of these resources. Only Morocco is among the top three phosphorus producers in the world.. A fact that could condemn the region “to significant new dependencies, thanks to a new paradigm driven by the energy transition”.

“To prevent and combat these critical problems, knowing that Europe will need to use, for example, 26 times the current amount of rare earths to meet its 2050 targets”research highlights.

It will be recalled that the European Union proposed a law on critical raw materials in 2023, with measures to ensure a safe and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. The goal of this law is that at least 10% of the EU’s annual consumption is covered by domestic production (in particular through new lithium deposits discovered in France and still not developed), 40% related to domestic processing, 15% covered by domestic processing and not more than 65% is covered by one third country.

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