Regarding the labor market, there are different points of view about the effects that this transformation process will have on the automotive industry. Despite the fact that the production and operating costs of a non-polluting car continue to drop, for some specialists the most serious problem that this transformation would generate (and that we should address) will be, on the one hand, the loss of jobs for current workers and, on the other, the lack of supply of highly specialized workers. For this reason, it is important that universities train specialists for the battery, hybrid or hydrogen vehicle industry more quickly; but at the same time, it is urgent to think about plans for training and/or reconversion of the labor force currently employed.
On inputs and technological innovation. Although there are apparently large lithium deposits that allow us to think of a promising future for electromobility, it is necessary to reflect on the rate of extraction of the mineral and its collateral consequences. Consider the following situation, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the European Union will ban the sale of internal combustion vehicles (gasoline and diesel) by 2035, which would mean that lithium demand will grow five times by 2030 (reaching 550,000 tons per year), more than double what the region will be able to produce . Unless new technologies appear to produce batteries, it is possible that the lithium market will be loss-making in the future.
In addition, larger electric vehicles (EVs) that need to travel longer distances will require larger batteries. This would also increase the demand for and price of lithium, which in turn could raise the cost of producing the vehicles. For this reason, engineers and scientists must continue working to make more efficient batteries (which also use other materials such as nickel or cobalt) and charging centers that feed them more quickly.
However, given an eventual increase in lithium demand, some automotive companies view the migration to electromobility from a broader perspective. They say that such a migration must also consider hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrids and even other technologies such as hydrogen and ethanol, and not just think about pure EVs. According to Toyota’s head of vehicle manufacturing, this approach makes the most sense. In fact, a larger fleet of hybrid vehicles would have a greater positive impact on polluting emissions and on the efficient use of lithium than a small fleet of battery vehicles.
Let’s talk now about the energy infrastructure. Despite the fact that the sale of EVs has increased and some countries, such as Mexico, are becoming the centers of production, owning a car of this type is still expensive and impractical for many of us. The reason, in part, has to do with the shortage of charging stations. On the one hand, it turns out to be very expensive to install a charging device in our home and, on the other hand, there are not many public charging stations. According to the AMIA, our country has about 1,146 charging points nationwide, while only in the state of New York there are around 9,000.