From ore to road: The mineral race to electric mobility

The European auto industry has just over 10 years to make the full transition to electromobility. Legislation such as the Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act is pushing Europe towards a fossil-free future. But this is going to require raw materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite. 

There’s a real challenge in sourcing, processing and recycling these materials, the demand of which is expected to increase as much as ninefold by the year 2040. But will the CRM Act help Europe ethically source these vital fuels it needs for its energy transition, and will it hold the solution to what Europe needs to excel in this? 

These questions were raised during our panel discussion at our latest Euronews event, in partnership with the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) and moderated by Euronews reporters Jack Schickler and Hannah Brown.

The Critical Raw Materials Act

“Mining and processing is an energy-intensive industry, so we need to ensure affordable energy to these companies in order to be competitive” said Javier Felipe, Industrial Engineer and European Parliament member. 

“We need to educate people, promote best-sharing practices, and ensure that we create added value in the regions that are going to have these strategic projects. We also need policy coherence.”

“There are a lot of regulations right now in the European Union that are going to request many different things, and it’s going to be very difficult for these strategic projects to comply with all these new regulations” stated Felipe. 

Watch our live debate again in the video below to hear about how industry key players plan to implement the Critical Raw Materials Act to revolutionise the European auto sector: 

According to the International Energy Agency and Our World in Data, over 8 billion tonnes of coal and 6 billion tonnes of oil are mined each year, and the social and environmental conditions and implications of this are rarely discussed. But according to Paliscanova, the required amount of minerals we need for the green energy transition is much less. 

“A battery today, that often lasts for two decades, can be recycled. So the volumes are much smaller – we’re talking about millions of tonnes versus billions of tonnes. Overall, going for the energy transition and for minerals is already a positive agenda for those that want to decrease mining in this world.” said Julia Poliscanova, Senior Director at Transport & Environment. 

However, Europe is arguably “behind” on this green transition. “The reality is that we have not secured these critical minerals of the future. We do not command the supply chain for nickel, lithium or cobalt because we are late to electrification. We are late to electric vehicles” said Poliscanova.

Global partnerships are a big part of the answer when it comes to sustainably extracting, processing and utilising raw materials for electric vehicles (EVs). But Paliscanova claims that it is investments from key auto industry players that will see Europe move towards real projects on the ground that are going to make a global difference. 

The EU has just brought in a new set of commissioners concerning the Clean Industrial Deal, which can also be classed as part of the New Green Deal, according to James Watson, Director General of Eurometaux. 

Watson stated: “The Clean Industrial Deal should fill some of the holes that we have in the CRM Act. What I mean by that is financing”

“We’re surprised there isn’t a critical raw materials bank. We hope that the Clean Industrial Deal will assess that.” stated Watson. 

Watson also relayed how there is not enough direct funding given for processing in the EU, adding “In CRM, we talk about 10% more mining, 45% more processing, 25% more recycling here. To do that, we’ll need 10 more mines – at least.” 

“We also think we should use the global gateway to deliver at least 15 concrete projects by 2030 that support critical raw materials. What is the global gateway for if it is not to do this and build on those strategic partnerships?” said Watson.

The EU’s complex relationship with China, a major EV market player, has been strained by U.S. tariffs on Chinese EVs. During the panel, a key question emerged: how can the EU balance ties with China while pursuing its green transition goals?

“Things are tough in China right now. Companies are going bust. The American market is closed for them. Europe is a big opportunity for China. We have more leverage than we think, and we should be more courageous.” said Poliscanova. 

“What’s really important is to have a really strong framework for technology transfer – for example IP, skills, joint ventures, licensing. Require these companies to really help us actually scale here in Europe and bring those expertise.” 

Watson stated “some metals that are largely based in China, so we’re going to have to do business with them. If we don’t, we’ll be forced to drive up the price by only going to one or two other countries that produce them. When we’re thinking about cars, we have to be careful in how we actually manage our relationship with China.”

According to Watson, Europe currently has the highest level of standards for mining and processing. If Europe wants to progress sustainably with the green transition, it may be difficult to compete with the likes of China. 

“It’s very optimistic to compete with China, but it’s going to be very difficult because they are able to make very cheap products with very good quality. They are also holding the technology, and they don’t mind banning the export of this kind of technology. It is also more expensive to produce in Europe” said Felipe. 

Tackling the challenges of ethical battery manufacturing

REACH, an initiative that deals with risk management for chemicals, hazards and safety, is set to be revised in 2025 to further uphold Europe’s mission towards safe and sustainable production and processing of CRMs. 

“We’re already producing at a standard that the rest of the world can only dream of. I think that we probably want to see more regulatory coherence and certain substances, like lithium” Watson stated. 

The panel explained that Europe has incredibly strong standards for labour and a good relationship with unions around producing batteries, and the continent is working hard to implement and operate sustainable recycling processes. 

“Let’s make sure that what we have is not made more complicated, namely increasing the burden, driving higher and higher standards, which make it impossible to battery manufacture here because we have issues around things like lithium, which aren’t actually properly reflective of the way that this is operated within our system.” 

However, even if Europe successfully processes and recycles batteries, it is hard to know how sustainably the materials have been handled up until that point. 

Poliscanova argued: “you can process or recycle your battery in Europe, but that material that changed hands from five countries, what really happened during this process? So tracing that is really critical, and improving those risks. There’s a big role for car makers, battery makers, to work with miners on the ground.” – Poliscanova said, mentioning Tesla as a key example of good practices. 

Peter Tom Jones, Director at KU Leuven Institute and speaker at the event, claimed there is a “lithium paradox” problem in Europe, stating “we can actually be self-sufficient in terms of lithium easily. But the reality is that we have at this moment zero active lithium mines.”

Jones added “we don’t have spodumene to lithium hydroxide processing plant yet. There are some in the pipeline but we don’t really have them yet. It’s surprising that for one of the most important strategic metals in Europe for our clean-tech transition, we can’t do better than that.”

Has Europe lost hope?

Mentioning Northvolt, a Swedish battery company that is currently filing for bankruptcy, reporter Jack Schickler questioned what Europe can learn about the failures and successes of Northvolt and the auto industry as a whole. 

Poliscanova argued that “failure is part of doing business. It’s part of innovation. The one thing Northvolt shows is that it will take a long time, right? You need patience, you need stamina.”

Poliscanova went on to explain how it was difficult for Northvolt to scale, given that they were faced with cheap grade batteries from China, along with all of the investor interest going to the US because of the US IRA. It seems that Europe is missing time, patience and industrial support for these technology transfers in order to excel in the field, Poliscanova relayed. 

As told by our panel of industry key players and experts, Europe’s journey to a sustainable, zero-emissions transport future is heavily dependent on securing an effective, robust and sustainable supply chain for critical raw materials. 

While Europe seeks to innovate in the fields of battery processing and battery recycling, there are hurdles that remain in sourcing and scaling these operations to compete with the rest of the world. 

Meet the Panellists

Javier Felipe Andreu, European Parliament

Javier Felipe is an industrial engineer that specialises in renewable energies and energy efficiency. Felipe is a member of the European Parliament and is currently working on the EU Commissions’ Critical Raw Materials Act. 

Currently, Javier is working as an investigator at the Instituto Universitario de Investigación Mixto, a research institute affiliated with the University of Zaragoza that focuses on advancing energy efficiency and sustainability through research and technology development. 

Javier studied industrial engineering at the Universidad de Zaragoza in Spain. He is also the assistant to MEP Susana Solis Perez of EPP, a company that specialises in 5-batch analysis, physico-chemical testing, custom synthesis service and research and development.

Julia Poliscanova Senior Director, Vehicles & Emobility Supply Chains Transport and Environment (T&E)

Julia Poliscanova is the Senior Director at Transport & Environment. Transport & Environment is a European environmental organisation and is a leading advocate for cleaner, sustainable transport. They influence policies on energy use, emissions and green mobility solutions. 

Julia’s work as Senior Director focuses heavily on electric vehicles and batteries. Julia completed a Bachelor’s Degree at Goldsmiths University of London, specialising in European politics, International Relations, British Politics, Energy Geopolitics and French. Julia also has a Master of Science Degree in Energy from the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

James Watson, Director General at Eurometaux

James Watson is the Director General at Eurometaux, the European Metals Association. Eurometaux is the decisive voice of non-ferrous metals producers and recyclers in Europe and is an umbrella association that represents the interests of the combined non–ferrous metals industry towards EU policymakers. 

Before joining Eurometaux in December 2024, James was the Secretary General at Eurogas, the European Gas Industry Association. James has also worked as a Visiting Professional for the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and as a Chief Executive Officer at SolarPower Europe. James studied Environmental Law at Aberystwyth University and then obtained his PhD in International Trade and Environmental Law at Leeds University.

Peter Tom Jones, Director KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals SIM2 KU Leuven

Peter Tom Jones is the Director at the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals (SIM²). The KU Leuven Institute is a team of researchers that focus on the exploration, extraction, processing, refining and recycling of the energy-transition metals that contribute towards a sustainable society. Peter is also the co-founder of KU Leuven’s SOLVOMET Research & Innovation Centre, a platform that provides circular hydrometallurgy expertise to industrial partners. 

Through SIM² KU Leuven and SOLVOMET, Jones has been a coordinator or partner in more than 30 EU-funded projects on sustainable metallurgy and critical raw materials (CRMs), and is often involved as panelist in EU CRM debates. 

Peter has published several books on the transition to a climate-neutral, circular economy, and has also presented in documentaries focusing on made-in-Europe, mine-to-clean-tech value chains. Peter studied Mathematics and Science at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-College Boom in Belgium, and then went on to obtain a PhD in Metallurgy at KU Leuven.