Resource Availability and Implications for the Development of Plug-In Electric Vehicles

Ona Egbue, Suzanna Long and Seong Dae Kim
Additional contact information
Ona Egbue: Department of Informatics and Engineering Systems, University of South Carolina Upstate, Spartanburg, SC 29303, USA
Suzanna Long: Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USA
Seong Dae Kim: Department of Engineering Management & Technology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) have immense potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels, and for smart grid applications. Although a great deal of research is focused on technological limitations that affect PEV battery performance targets, a major and arguably equal concern is the constraint imposed by the finite availability of elements or resources used in the manufacture of PEV batteries. Availability of resources, such as lithium, for batteries is critical to the future of PEVs and is, therefore, a topic that needs attention. This study addresses the issues related to lithium availability and sustainability, particularly supply and demand related to PEVs and the impact on future PEV growth. In this paper, a detailed review of the research on lithium availability for PEV batteries is presented, key challenges are pinpointed and future impacts on PEV technology are outlined.

Keywords: electric vehicles; batteries; lithium; Li-ion batteries; resource availability; reserves; lithium intensity; energy; plug-in electric vehicles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1665/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1665/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1665-:d:739540

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().