The debate over electric vehicles is certainly heating up and it is one that the proponents of conversion to battery power are becoming ever more vocal upon.

The argument would appear to be simple enough. The human population is burning through a natural resource at a tremendous rate and the carbon being released is affecting the climate.

Charging point charge electric vehicles — It may appear that rural France is well served by charging points but this cable was roughly wired into an old wall-mounted transformer

Going electric may appear to be the clean and simple solution but there exists problems with the practical application, along with some fundamental flaws.

Depletion of all mineral resources is the issue

The folly of the rapid and indiscriminate consumption of oil is cited as an essential element in the move away from its use as a fuel.

This is a sentiment that should be extended to all the Earth’s natural resources, not just carbon reserves.

Where, once, it was mainly fossil fuels that were the focus of concern, that anxiety is now being applied to other minerals as the realisation dawns that electric vehicles (EVs) will also place unsustainable demands on resources, especially cobalt and lithium.

These two elements are considered pivotal to the electric revolution, yet it is becoming increasingly clear that neither their abundance nor availability is sufficient to enable a smooth transition to a fully EV fleet.

Ferdinand Porsche in battery electric car — The first vehicle designed and built by Ferdinand Porsche was the C.2 Phaeton electric car. Also available in four wheel drive, it was unveiled to the world 123 years ago

Cobalt supply, in particular, will become a pressing problem if the forecasts of EV growth turn out to be anyway near the mark.

Although it is not an essential component of lithium-ion batteries, it adds greatly to their efficiency, meaning that smaller batteries will do the same job, or that cars will go further for a given size of battery.

To put it simply, there simply isn’t enough of it readily available to go round. So, we need to look at other other battery chemistries.

The immediate alternative to the optimum nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) mix is the lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) type. LFP batteries do have several advantages over NCA, including safety and longevity, but power density is not amongst them.

LFP batteries are also cheaper and Tesla recently announced that it will be installing the LFP type in its shorter-range cars, reserving cobalt containing NCA batteries for its premium models.

Range anxiety or fuelling frustration?

This touches on one of the most critical of objections to the practicality of EVs – range anxiety.

While it may be argued that a 200-300-mile range is not of great inconvenience, the long, drawn-out process of refuelling an EV most certainly is.

The average diesel saloon will take fewer than five minutes on the forecourt to top up. Even with the more expensive and less efficient fast-charge systems fitted to an EV, the minimum period is half an hour, and that is only to 80% capacity.

We all lead busy lives and that figure is simply unacceptable to many motorists.

Tesla semi battery truck — Production of the Tesla semi with its 11 tonne battery pack has slipped back to 2023

One of the great premises that EVs are sold on is that there are new wonder batteries just around the corner.

Promises that they will charge in minutes and hold vast amounts of energy have, so far, remained unfulfilled.

Lithium-ion batteries were developed in the mid seventies and we are still waiting for a better battery to come along.

Global issues

In the meantime, manufacturers are ramping up their EV-production capabilities, seemingly oblivious to the lack of consumer interest or the geopolitical problems surrounding battery supply.

It is estimated that China produces 95% of the world’s LFP batteries. There are also suggestions that it has acquired control of 80% of the world’s lithium resources. It is the world’s largest car market so we should not be too surprised at it wishing to secure strategic supplies of the mineral.

America, on the other hand, accounts for 14% of world car sales but has only a limited lithium-production ability. In fact, this facility is so small that the US government withholds the figures on the grounds of not wishing to “disclose company proprietary data”.

Lithium rich salt pans — Satellite images of the Salar del Hombre Muerto salt flats in Argentina that are rich in lithium. The lithium-rich brine is concentrated by solar evaporation ponds. Image source: NASA

Despite accounting for 21% of global consumption, Europe does not produce lithium in any significant quantities although there are plans to start mining Austrian reserves in 2023.

Given the above, it does not take long to appreciate that the economical benefit of EV production is skewed towards China with the west becoming ever more dependent upon a country that is not recognised as either democratic or liberal.

There are also logistics issues with the current shipping difficulties showing no signs of abating.

While this may appear a little abstract to most rural motorists, the effect is real enough.

Immediate access to transport is essential to country/rural dwellers and it is essential that it remains free from interference by pressure groups who do not share the same concerns or interests.

Options other than EVs

If mineral oil is to be phased from use as a fuel, then we must question whether the push for battery power is really the best way to go?

That is a question that can only be answered by looking at all the alternatives, not just the single option we are being confronted with.

Basically, the conundrum boils down to whether we keep the internal combustion engine (ICE) as a power source or replace it with something else entirely.

battery powered tractor from Farmtrac — Battery power will certainly find a place in less demanding roles

The ICE has served us remarkably well over the years, it is tried and trusted technology that is undergoing continuous improvement. Smelly old diesels filling the air with greasy smoke are, thankfully, confined to history.

The laws of thermodynamics insist that the higher the compression ratio of an engine the more efficient it is.

So why are governments so intent on throwing out clean and efficient compression ignition engines, supported by a well-established fuelling infrastructure, when non fossil fuels are available to power them?

These fuels include synthetic diesel, which can be produced from any organic waste or crops grown for the purpose.

Finland obtains 20% of its diesel from waste food and the company providing this fuel, Neste, is expanding its production and distribution throughout Europe.

‘Batteries are not for us’

In an exclusive interview with Agriland earlier this year, Dr. Josef Horstmann, retiring head of Krone’s technical division, quite clearly stated that batteries are not yet at the stage where they may be used in agricultural machines such as forage harvesters.

Indeed, all the major tractor manufacturers have looked at battery power and walked away from it.

AGCO, Deutz and FPT are busy exploring alternative fuels while JCB have gone so far as to back its foray into hydrogen with a £100m investment.

John Deere electric tractor battery pack — First shown at SIMA in 2017 the John Deere battery powered tractor had an estimated running time of around four hours

Hydrogen is fast emerging as an alternative method of energy management to electricity despite most commercial supplies presently being derived from fossil fuels.

However, it is also obtainable from water via electrolysis, and powering hydrogen plants by wind turbines may come to be another solution to the problem of storing electricity generated by the weather.

The JCB decision goes against current thinking of using hydrogen in a far more efficient fuel cell, instead, they are proposing direct combustion in an ICE.

This move may be informed by recent a development in adsorption chemistry which eliminates the problem of having to store it in cumbersome cylinders.

Past lessons

Among all the arguments over the use of mineral oil, it might be remembered that it was originally developed as a direct replacement for whale oil in lamps and was, thus, an environmental godsend.

It grew to become the devil incarnate in the eyes of environmentalists yet, through the unquestioning pursuit of battery-driven cars, we may come to repeat the very same mistake.

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