I hate it when they post images like this without details about the rest of the car and without how the obvious alternative compares to it. Here you can find hundreds of such articles.
It seems so obvious that these seem politically motivated, much like the articles against internal combustion engines (ICE) are. There are so many omissions in articles like these I wasn't sure where to begin.
You can ask the question of how many people it takes to make a pencil. Then you could talk about the mining involved for the graphite for the so called 'lead' of the pencil. You can add up the brass for what keeps the eraser on the other end. The amount of wood that goes into a single pencil. Then go back and look at the forestry involved, the refining, the processes and material into making the little eraser.
Then talk about all of the people involved in the manufacture of a pen, and of amount of mining that goes into creation of a typical pen. Including petroleum extraction, for the plastics. The refining of the metal for the spring, because if you're going to use a pen, you might as well get a retractable kind. I don't know where they get ink from.
Doing such an analysis on both kinds of things, you can come to the conclusion that the manufacture of a typical pen will consume in terms of labor, land use and water. This involves a lot of research. It really would be amount of water used per stroke meter of pencil or pen. There are many metrics in the end.
But what I see in these articles is just one part of the electric vehicle, without considering all of the parts of the electric vehicle. Is the battery the lion share of it or is it a tiny proportion after adding all of the rims, the body, the frame, and all of the other parts of the car? Then there is the lack of the control group: the internal combustion engine (I.C.E.) car.
How many tonnes of of soil have to be processed in order to produce the entire car? How many tones of copper ore are used for the entire car? How does this compare to an entire comparable car that is of the I.C.E. type?
I have yet to see an analysis of this kind.
I'd say that for taxation of gasoline, the need for parts not needed in an all electric car, and the relatively lower price of electricity; electric vehicles might be a better choice I.C.E. vehicles may be the best choice for a lot of people. It's like a light-truck verses a compact car. If you are not taking ladders to job sites, or ever needing to move things, it makes sense to drive a compact car instead. Like this, if you are never going to go long distances by car, it makes sense to use an electric car. However, since the 2020s, it makes sense to have versatility to be able to make a run for the border. So, I wouldn't go to electric vehicles in spite of these economic advantages.
