> You need rare earth for batteries as well This is a pervasive and utterly false idea. There are no rare earth elements in li-ion batteries and never have be

> You need rare earth for batteries as well This is a pervasive and utterly false idea. There are no rare earth elements in li-ion batteries and never have been. It's a weird kind of free-association that people think so. Also, nickel and cobalt mining are completely different from rare earth mining. The only rare earth element used in EVs in any significant amount is neodymium, about 1.6 kg in 200-300 horsepower PM motors. Induction motors, like those in the Model S and X, use none at all. Neodymium is entirely replaceable for EVs and has perhaps a 1% impact on range. If it becomes expensive it won't be used. According to the USGS the US has enough mapped, recoverable neodymium for 1 billion EVs[1]. Australia already produces enough for over 10 million cars per year. [1]: https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/rare_earths/mcs-2018-raree.pdf https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/rare_earth...