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"A ticking time bomb that can explode at any time", as EVs surge, so does nickel mining’s death toll (restofworld.org)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

19 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Chinese demand for nickel, an important ingredient in EV batteries, has triggered a mining boom in the remote regions of Indonesia. The country has signed over a dozen deals worth more than $15 billion with suppliers for EV giants like Tesla and Hyundai Motor, but deaths and injuries from industrial accidents have been racking up.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

An important ingredient? Do these so called "journalists" keep up with the latest tech? Or even modern tech?

NiMH is out. NiMH is your father's tech. Nobody fucking uses NiMH except for consumer grade batteries, and even then, many people would prefer to spend the extra bucks on Li-ion rechargeables. Old Prii used to use NiMH, but Toyota switched to Li-ion a long time ago.

As far as EVs and larger batteries for home/commercial generation, Li-ion is out. LiFePO4 is the new hotness, and is quickly replacing Li-ion, because it's an easy upgrade of battery capacity.

Lithium, iron, phosphoric acid. No nickel. Who the fuck is mining nickel for EV batteries? Everybody has been talking about lithium mining as the bottleneck, not nickel. This article looks like FUD for clickbait.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 11 months ago (2 children)

That's the new hotness yes, but for the most part EVs are currently using Li-NMC lithium ion batteries. The NMC stands for Nickel Manganese Cobalt. Nickel and Cobalt mining is a major source of degradation in extraction mining economies, bordering on, and at times entering into, slavery.

Also LiFePO4 are not set to replace Li-NMC batteries for a long time and cannot act as a drop in replacement. They're a better drop in for NiMH or Lead Acid batteries given their similar drawbacks. They are projected to replace Li-NMC by 2028, but that's a whole half decade from now

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I didn't realize Li-ions were still using nickel.

Regardless, Telsa and Ford have already switched to LiFePO4 for new models, and Toyota has started switching. Both competitive and economic pressures will push the migration sooner. The battery tech is just miles and miles better (literally). Car buyers will want the extra distance and faster charging.

So, bylines that remark "nickel will feed EV giants like Tesla" is just disingenuous.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Tesla and Ford both use LiFePo batteries in SOME of the EVs they sell, NOT ALL. Get your facts straight before you start attacking the credibility of others. You're just repeating industry propaganda at this point.