Electric vehicles use lithium batteries, the same that power up our phones, cameras and remote handsets. Just like the smaller ones, they start losing their power with time and start supplying less and less power after every recharge until they need to be completely replaced since their use becomes so limited. The problem here is that lithium batteries can’t just be thrown out in the waste, especially if they are big car batteries. They can not only explode and cause a fire but the heat and radiation emanating from these batteries can have a devastating effect on the environment and other living things.
Furthermore, if not disposed properly, these lithium batteries could contaminate the underground water, which could bring about dire consequences as the water is mostly pure and used for various purposes by humans, plants and animals. Throwing these batteries into rivers and oceans could also prove to be fatal. It would not only adversely affect marine life but contaminants could also seep into plants which would later be consumed by humans through the food chain. Since water is the basic need and basic element of creation of all living things, the scale of the problem could be unimaginable, if such an event were to occur.
Contemporarily, some foreign electric vehicle companies including Tesla provide solutions such as re-using these batteries in solar panels, housing, industries etc. but these solutions are very short term since the batteries might lose most of their capacity and only run for a short time before they literally have no use. Currently, Tesla stores them in a warehouse away from any major water supply but with the sale of electric vehicles rocketing every year, one can only imagine how dangerous too many lithium batteries could be in the future.
Shafaullah Khan
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2020.
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