The all-new technology of electric vehicles or EVs are on the hype. These zero-carbon emission cars are finding a comfortable place in the automobile industry. Automobile giants like Volkswagen, Nissan, Porsche, and BMW, as well as start-ups like Tesla, Faraday Future, Polestar, and Lucid Motors, are putting these cars up in the market at an alarmingly high rate. Electric Vehicles being quiet, clean, and as quick as 0-60 in 2.1 seconds (Tesla Roadster) anyone would say at the first glance that these are the future of the automobile industry.

The shady stuff.

Every Electric vehicle has a battery pack made of lithium-ion batteries. The production of these batteries leaves an enormous carbon footprint. Production of long-range EVs creates around 17 metric tons of CO2 while typical gas-powered vehicles create around 7 metric tons of CO2. Lithium is obtained by mining, Here is the thing about lithium, it is found near the most sensitive ecosystems in the world. Lithium mining produces greenhouse gases and causes water-level depletion. Another material used in these batteries is cobalt. Some cobalt mines in Congo use child labour. And as the demand for lithium-ion batteries is on an all-time high with the introduction of EVs the problem only gets worse unless some big changes are made.

Dell, Microsoft and Tesla also among tech firms named in case brought by families of children killed or injured while mining in DRC.
- The Guardian

So are EVs bad for the environment?

Well, it is much more complicated than that. Production of EVs does create a lot of environmental hazards but more than make up for it with zero carbon emission. While combustion engine cars produce carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide on every rotation of a single piston. Two steps forward one step back is still one step forward. And as for the case of Congo, many pressure groups are fighting for children's betterment and the problem is not a small one. People are calling Li-ion batteries "Blood-Batteries". Dell, Microsoft and Tesla were among tech firms named in the case brought by families of children killed or injured while mining in The Democratic Republic Of Congo. The solution to this is simple, remove the children working as labourers in these mines. The lithium issue is also solvable one as sodium-ion batteries are now looking more likely to replace the old fashioned li-ion batteries. We should also recognize the fact that the technology of Electric Vehicles is still in its infancy and given adequate time and resources these problems could be solved and EVs can become the flawless transport medium.