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Electric cars and batteries: how will the world produce enough?

Reducing the use of scarce metals — and recycling them — will be key to the world’s transition to electric vehicles.
  1. Davide Castelvecchi
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A worker wearing a face visor assembles an array of battery modules for an electric vehicle

Batteries for an electric car are assembled at the Audi production plant in Brussels. Credit: Audi AG

The age of the electric car is upon us. Earlier this year, the US automobile giant General Motors announced that it aims to stop selling petrol-powered and diesel models by 2035. Audi, based in Germany, plans to stop producing such vehicles by 2033. Many other automotive multinationals have issued similar road maps. Suddenly, major carmakers’ foot-dragging on electrifying their fleets is turning into a rush for the exit.

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Nature 596, 336-339 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02222-1

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