There will, of course, be challenges. I wasn't around at the time of the first ICE vehicles, but I can imagine there were similar concerns. Having clicked through and read the article you linked to, these scientists accept that we need to tackle the problem. I don't think they are advocating throwing in the towel and stoically awaiting doomsday. They are drawing attention to the challenges, which is a good thing, because you can bet Boris and his chums have never heard of dysprosium. To be honest, neither had I.
I agree, That is my reading of this article. As others have pointed out as demand increases so will supply. Its very expensive to open a new mine +£bn etc so prices tend to fluctuate as demand outstrips supply and then new production clicks in. If prices continue to rise, then alternative battery chemistries or business models become attractive.
Current predictions indicate Cobalt demand will outstrip current supply by mid about 2025.
The other big concerns is the source of cobalt. Most metals are distributed fairly uniformly across the globe, Cobalt is an exception, its main source is the DRG. The industry is concerned about sustainability and the environmental conditions from DRG mining. There have been development to produce low cobalt and zero cobalt batteries. The latest NMC 811 is an example of this development 811 refers to the proportion of metal, N (Nickle), M (manganese) C (cobalt). In the past decade the main formulation for battery chemistry has been from NMC- 111 to 625 and now 111 so Cobalt has shrunk from ca 33% to 10% of the weight of the cell. Alterative chemistries such as LFP and future chemistries such as dodium sulphur are in development to remove Cobalt completely.
Metal traders saw this trend and tried to corner the market in 2019 leading to a price hike, but they overestimated uptake of Evs and new mining capacity, so the prices has come down 2/3rs in the past 2 years. Cobalt is a fairly rare metal with not many applications so its price has always been erratic. Wars in or near the DRG have had the biggest impact on availability and price
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Magnets for motors and generators
Of more concern is the availability of rare earth elements such as Dysprosium and Neodymium. They are used to make the strong magnets in motors and generators. So wind turbines, and EVs - wither its hydrogen fuel cell or battery ev its still needs a motor. The rare earth magnets have caused a revolution in motors size and power. The avaialbity of lightweight powerful hand tools is down to these magnets, however most of todays supply comes from China and the US in particular is short on supply. In the UK there has been an announcement of a rare earth refiner investment on Teesside using ores from Tanzania. Rare earths are hard to purify as they contain Thorium a radioactive by-product. Its for that reason the mines in the US and Mexico shut in late 20th century and china became the domenant supplier. Now there is a scramble to find non-Chinese supply and purification methods that can deal with the toxic tailings in a safe way.
Recycling
The industry is already looking at recycling. Having seen the problems in ICE and other industries (plastic packaging for example), the new EV and battery makers are looking to design circular supply chains and closed loop recycling. The valuable metals are an incentive, but the whole point of EV is to be green so it needs a green end of life and second life. The view is that by 2035 most cobalt and rare earths will be available from recycling and new minerals will only be needed to supply growth in demand.
Alternative to personal transport.
As Jacob has pointed out, there are strong drivers to reduce personal transport. New models for transport, such as shared ownership and home delivery, and communication by smart phone etc are likely to reduce the demand for cars over time. By 2035 we are likely to have reached peak car ownership.
generator in a trailer.
