Written by: Patrick Scully
In September of 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-79-20, outright banning the sale of fossil-fueled cars by 2035.[1] Simultaneously heralded and rebuked by many, Executive Order N-79-20 nonetheless is the largest, and most daring, initiative on behalf of electric vehicles.[2] Whether approved or disdained, it is without question that the future of vehicles is electric.
The advocation for electric vehicles lie in their capability to combat climate change.[3] While not the overarching solution, shifting electric vehicles serves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the primary contributor to the warming and altering of the Earth’s atmosphere.[4] Especially noteworthy is the fact that transportation alone is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions within the United States.[5] Ergo, the campaign to shift to electric vehicles, while not reversing the harm done, seeks to greatly reduce these emissions that have plagued the atmosphere for over a century now.
Recent estimates have even speculated that by 2050, 50% of vehicles sales will be electric.[6] However, this expansion provides many concerns in addition to the proffered utility. Particularly, there are growing environmental concerns with not only the manufacturing of electric vehicles themselves, but their batteries, the backbone of the vehicle.[7]
Since the advent of the automobile, gas-powered vehicles have been almost exclusively electrically powered by lead-acid batteries.[8] Lead-acid batteries were originally employed for electric vehicles as well, but their power was too limiting to completely control the engine of a vehicle.[9] Instead, lithium-ion batteries emerged as the ideal candidate to power electric vehicles.[10] Although more costly to produce, they provide a higher electric storage capacity, longer lifespan, and greater efficiency.[11] Many electric vehicles are powered by alternative sources such as nickel-metal-hydride batteries and ultracapacitors.[12]
Regardless of the type of battery, electric vehicle batteries are subject to both environmental and economic concerns.[13] While the batteries themselves are not necessarily toxic in use, issues arise when electric vehicles batteries are retired from use, also known as their “end of life management.”[14] During a battery’s “end of life management,” it is ultimately faced with two options: landfill disposal or recycling.[15] Landfill disposal proves most problematic.[16] Because of their metallic design, if electric vehicle batteries are discarded in landfills, they present significant risks of their metals seeping into local water systems.[17] If recycled however, electric vehicles batteries run little risk of contaminating local waterways.
Not only this, but landfill disposal, by not recycling the metals, essentially wastes any potential use the metals may have when recycled. One study curated by the Lund University in Sweden proffered that by 2060, mined metals would need to increase by 87,000% to supply electric vehicle batteries alone.[18] As of now, the United States houses no significant reserves of these necessary metals, relying on imports to meet current demands.[19] Recycling these batteries as opposed to disposing of them have the potential to capture 95% of the metals, redirecting their use to further battery production.[20] This would reduce the need for imports to supply these production efforts in addition in reducing the need for mining.[21]
Electric vehicles battery recycling has yet to be fully realized by the industry simply because there are not large quantities of electric vehicles on the road today and those on the road have not yet reached the point where the battery needs to be replaced. As a result, in 2019 only 5% of electric vehicle batteries were recycled.[22] Despite the economic and environmental benefits associated with this form of recycling in particular, the industry has turned a blind eye to it thus far.
Despite the environmental and economic advantages of battery recycling, no state or federal law in the United States addresses electric vehicle battery recycling. Pretty soon, local governments will recognize the gap in regulation presented today and seek to find solutions. Such a regulation will be one of compromise. A balance must be struck between constructive environmental regulation and economic feasibility. Regardless of the animosities, regulation of electric vehicles is starting to be less be question of if, but when.
[1] Governor Newsom Announces California Will Phase Out Gasoline-Powered Cars & Drastically Reduce Demand for Fossil Fuels in California’s Fight Against Climate Change, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom (Sept. 23, 2022),
[2] Alvin Powell, California Dreaming? Nope, The Harvard Gazette (Sept. 9, 2022), https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/09/23/governor-newsom-announces-california-will-phase-out-gasoline-powered-cars-drastically-reduce-demand-for-fossil-fuel-in-californias-fight-against-climate-change/.
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/09/what-to-expect-from-california-gas-powered-car-ban/.
[3] Zeke Hausfather, Factcheck: How Electric Vehicles Help to Tackle Climate Change, Carbon Brief Clear on Climate, https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-how-electric-vehicles-help-to-tackle-climate-change/ (last updated Jul. 2, 2020).
[4] Id.
[5] Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, EPA https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions (last visited Nov. 10, 2022).
[6] Ira Boudway, More Than Half of U.S. Car Sales will be Electric by 2030, Bloomberg (Sept. 20, 2022), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-20/more-than-half-of-us-car-sales-will-be-electric-by-2030.
[7] The Environmental Impact of Lithium Batteries, Institute for Energy Research (Nov. 12, 2020), https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/renewable/the-environmental-impact-of-lithium-batteries/.
[8] Andrew Sheldon, The History of Car Batteries, The American Automobile Association (Feb. 18, 2022), https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/life/cars-trucks/auto-history/the-history-of-car-batteries/.
[9] General Motors EV1, Electric Vehicle News, https://electricvehiclesnews.com/History/Companies/General_Motors_EV1.htm, (last visited Nov. 15, 2022).
[10] Bruno Scrosati History of Lithium Batteries, 15 Springer-Verlag 1623, 1629 (Feb. 23, 2011), https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10008-011-1386-8.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] The Environmental Impact of Lithium Batteries, Institute for Energy Research (Nov. 12, 2020), https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/renewable/the-environmental-impact-of-lithium-batteries/.
[14] Leila Ahmadi et al., Environmental Feasibility of Re-use of Electric Vehicle Batteries, Science Direct 65, 69 (Jan. 8, 2014), https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S2213138814000071?token=E74EE8E110EA7D7B097A5E47BA74BCD8642BA205EE9D0896962ABAF5A77A9A637F1F7CC917F2CA044894CE5A5912A108&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20221113232227.
[15] Id.
[16] A.M. Bernardes et al., Recycling of Batteries: A Review of Current Processes and Technologies, Journal of Power Sources 291, 293 (Dec. 8, 2003), https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378775303012230?casa_token=P5CBPU_nI14AAAAA:5v5-dkO7JlODt6kP2uIB3GDCjpnOudTHpf7v-Ddn9q9-aLmOspzU_HEYcnZMs4zNKHFxoIfQ5w.
[17] Id.
[18] Andrew Manberger and Bjorn Stenqvist, Global Metal Flows in the Renewable Energy Transition: Exploring the Substitutes, Technological Mix and Development, Science Direct 226 (May 2, 2019), https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0301421518302726?token=2EFF86D479A0A33CA85E54EE5BB25588EBFFD5A22DE81DF9E174981FEFA05C6AF14A656C038BA5C2EF149DF46D08FC3A&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20221112190358.
[19] Lithium-Ion EV Battery Recycling Policy Framework, Alliance for Automotive Innovation 1, 3 https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/energy-environment/Lithium-Ion%20EV%20Battery%20Recycling%20Policy%20Framework.pdf (last visited Nov. 30, 2022).
[20] Jim Motavalli, Closing the Loop on EV Battery Recycling, SAE International (Oct. 7, 2022), https://www.sae.org/news/2022/10/ev-battery-recycling.
[21] Id.
[22] Mitch Jacoby, It’s Time to Get Serious About Recycling Lithium-ion Batteries, 97 Chemical and Engineering News (July 14, 2019), https://cen.acs.org/materials/energy-storage/time-serious-recycling-lithium/97/i28.