Nissan LEAF Lithium Needs vs Gasmobile Gas Needs

A lively discussion got rolling under the “EV Disruption” article we published earlier this week. One clever and interesting comment from Ronald Brakels stood out to me, though, so I thought I’d highlight it on this lazy Saturday for a lot more people to enjoy and bookmark. Here it is (image added):

By Ronald Brakels

Amount of lithium required to drive a Leaf 200,000 kilometers (125,000 miles) = 4 kilograms. Amount of oil that needs to be extracted to drive the average Australian or US internal combustion engine passenger vehicle 200,000 kilometers = about 24 tonnes. That’s a ratio of 1 to 6,000.

Cost of Australian lithium carbonate required = about $100 US. Cost of gasoline required = $20,500 US in Australia or about $12,000 in the United States. That’s a ratio of about 1 to 120 in the US.

If desired, the lithium in the Leaf battery pack can be recycled. Good luck recycling gasoline after it’s been burned.

Note: The above are only facts and shouldn’t be regarded as anything more than facts. Feel free to ignore them at your convenience, as is the prerogative of all residents of Lalaland.