The dirty secret of the Electric Car
The human tragedy behind lithium battery production in the Cobalt Mines of Congo.
Cobalt mining is a disgusting, dirty and undire business is where child labour is the order of the day.
Child miners from four years old live in hell on Earth so we can drive an electric car. An army of 40,000 children works daily in the vast mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where toxic red dust burns their eyes and they are at risk of skin diseases and fatal lung disease. The horrific price they pay for our electric fleet is ruined health and probably an early death.
Special report:
Four-year-old child miners live hell on Earth so we can drive an electric car: terrible human costs in filthy mine.
Increase in demand for Cobalt.
The planned transition to electric driving has led to a huge increase in demand. While a smartphone battery does not use more than 10 grams of refined cobalt, an electric car needs 15 kg. Almost every major manufacturer that produces electric cars buys its cobalt from the impoverished Central African state. It's the world's largest producer, with 60 percent of global reserves. The cobalt is transported to battery factories in Asia.
