Material costs threaten affordable green cars This sure sounds like the old "hybrids are too expensive" but todays $25,000 car is yesterday's $20,000 car. No, we won't find a cheap-bucket hybrid to compete with the Tanto . . . or will we? Bob Wilson
I don't care how expensive "rare" earth metals are, at £1.20 a litre (not far off $8 a gallon) for petrol, switching to electric drive is worth it! I think people in the uk are going to go crazy over the Leaf and Ampera. and the plugin prius, i suppose...
Where do they get off saying, "Rare-earth elements and lithium for batteries are at the heart of the new technology. Far more than any consumer product, hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius are the world's biggest users of rare-earth elements." How much lithium is there in a Prius? None, as far as I can tell. Our Prii have NiMH batteries. I know there is Neodymium in the MG magnets but that "rare earth" element is also used in a lot of other electric motors, hard drives, magnetic tools, loudspeakers and all kinds of energy-efficient appliances. It's also used as an additive in glass and for lasers, wind turbines, electric lights and paint dye. I doubt if hybrid vehicles are "the world's biggest users of rare earth elements."
$10./gal. gas. $7. tax goes half to alternative technology and half to national debt. then, hybrid and electric cars will be a bargain.
Not to overlook the minor fact that Lithium is not a rare earth by a long shot. But the auto industry is so huge, that while it may not consume the majority of rare earths, it certainly could be the biggest single industry user. Unfortunately, I suffer from the same problem as the writer of the article. I have no numbers so I'll substitute my opinion for fact.
For some reason people assume that rare earth elements are rare. People thought they were rare when they were first isolated, but with the exception of promethium they are found in relatively high concentrations in the earth's crust. Tom
It seems that known deposits of key elements such as lithium have been underatated in Afghanistan. The presence of stocks of key elements has long been known, but the amounts there haven't been fully appreciated until now. And, it's possible that's the case elsewhere as well. There's very likely more lithium out there than has been thought ... and, given how technology progresses, lithium won't be the end of the line for use in batteries. Per UPI: "Vast mineral deposits found in Afghanistan WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- Almost $1 trillion in mineral deposits -– much more than previously believed -- have been discovered in Afghanistan, The New York Times reported. U.S. officials said the vast amount of metals could turn the war-ravaged country into a world mining center, shape the economy and possibly affect the Afghan war, the newspaper reported Monday. Some mining officials say the discovery could bring heavy investment before mines become profitable and jobs could provide an alternative to fighting wars in a country with a gross domestic product of only about $12 billion. This will become the backbone of the Afghan economy," said Jalil Jumriany, an adviser to the Afghan minister of mines. The deposits include iron, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium. The Times said an internal Pentagon memo stated Afghanistan could become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium," which is a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys. "There is stunning potential here," Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the U.S. Central Command, told the Times. "There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant." But the minerals also could lead the Taliban to fight harder for control of the country, the Times said. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and government officials have been briefed on the deposits, U.S. officials said."
