The carbon footprint of producing an EV is higher than an ICE. Nobody disputes that.
But the lower carbon footprint of operating the an EV makes the EV have a lower footprint over the life of the vehicle. This is true even if your electricity comes purely from coal, as a coal power plant gets an economy of scale that an ICE doesn't achieve. If your power comes from a renewable source, then the trade-off happens even sooner.
Questioning the lithium source is valid, but also a red herring when we're talking about environmental impact.
But yes, battery minerals can involve human rights abuses. But ICE vehicles are also built from steel, aluminum, copper, rubber, electronics, and metals that can involve forced labor, unsafe mining, land displacement, pollution, or exploitative labor. The ethical issue is supply chain due diligence across the whole auto industry, not just lithium.
Funny how some people (Mostly anti-EV folks) only discover supply chain ethics only when the car has a battery.
what car company is using forced labor as you are claiming that is pretty serious, almost all except China, are built in countries with strong labor unions.
what I really hate is that EVs have given people a false sense of superiority that seemingly stems from their curious unwillingness to look at the ugly environmental and human rights abuses around the lithium sourcing.
> what car company is using forced labor as you are claiming that is pretty serious, almost all except China, are built in countries with strong labor unions.
You're conflating final car assembly with the sourcing of the raw materials.
GM's report [0] says "We have reason to believe that certain of the 3TG in our products may have originated in a Covered Country [1] and may not have all come from recycled or scrap sources."
Honda admits [2] "Among all the smelters and refiners disclosed to us by our suppliers, we determined that some of them processed minerals sourced in the DRC or its adjoining countries."
I read reports from other car manufacturers and they're all full of the same weasel words. Ford says "We do not knowingly procure materials that contribute to child and forced labor, bribery and corruption, conflict, or environmental concerns" [3] while admitting "Through our 2023 data collection and due diligence efforts described below, Ford has reason to believe some 3TG contained in our products may come from Covered Countries."
Most world lithium production is attributed to spodumene mining in Australia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, and Canada, and to brine operations in Chile, China, and Argentina
But the lower carbon footprint of operating the an EV makes the EV have a lower footprint over the life of the vehicle. This is true even if your electricity comes purely from coal, as a coal power plant gets an economy of scale that an ICE doesn't achieve. If your power comes from a renewable source, then the trade-off happens even sooner.