In the linked video of an Energy and Natural Resources Committee meeting Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri questions Tommy Beaudreau, the former United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior on Chinese manufacturing relative to Electric Vehicles (EV).
Beaudreau does not appear to know the answers to any questions posed. The responses should have been as follows::
54 % of all EVs are manufactured in China
73% of cobalt largely mined in Africa is owned by the Chinese
70% of EV cathodes are made in China
92% of EV anodes are made in China
56% of battery cells are assembled in China
Hawley then refers to a report appearing in the New York Post that cites the only ‘winner’ in the manufacture of EVs is China.
In my December 2022 article “On the Matter of Mining”, I wrote “Not including steel and plastics, the average Tesla battery requires 25 pounds of lithium, 30 pounds of cobalt, 44 pounds of manganese, 60 pounds of nickel, 200 pounds of copper, and 400 pounds of aluminum. Not including overburden, mining would excavate and then process 500,000 pounds of mineral-bearing earth to produce one single EV battery”.
Hawley then questions Beaudreau on the stoppage of mining in Minnesota which would go a long way in the domestic production of EVs. Beaudreau gives the typical environmentalist response that mining is a menace to local waters and that the affected area is pristine for tourism
Early in February of 2022, I wrote about the federal cancellation of permits and mining leases for copper in the Maturi Deposit in a geological area known as the Duluth complex. This is an area between Ely and Babbitt in northern Minnesota and a historic producer of copper. The Twin Metals mine they talk of shuttering in the video is in this same prolific mining neighborhood and contains copper, nickel, and cobalt.
Hawley delves into the dreadful labor practices of the Chinese including child and slave labor that I have covered ad nauseam. Beaudreau seems unashamed of his stance on not pursuing a domestic supply change that would result in a stoppage of these and many other barbarous and discordant practices of the Chinese.
Another momentous issue in all of this is that we are feeding the economy of an adversarial nation while depleting reliance on domestic sources of supply. Beaudreau seems to unconsciously nurture this plan without truly understanding the significant ramifications on national security. Beaudreau’s position would be made even worse with a lengthy longshoremen or port strike and any such shipping stoppages in the future.
Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Democrat Senator Joe Manchin in telling John Hawley his time for questions was up, rebuked Hawley for his ‘attack’ style of questioning. While Manchin is likely the most centrist of all Democrats in Congress, he should be supportive and accommodating of Hawley’s tactics and questioning of any autocratic bureaucrat like the agenda-driven Beaudreau.
Ron what does a Tesla battery weigh?