Electric vehicle (EV) advocates say the cars ultimately have a smaller carbon footprint than their fossil-fuelled counterparts and could resolve our energy concerns for good. Well, fair enough, but questions arise when we dig into the inner layers of EVs and see how sustainable their components are. In fact, the batteries that power EVs may also be their Achilles heel.

Batteries are the most expensive component of an EV. If the battery pack is damaged, defective or simply old, this can lead to the vehicle being written off prematurely. Tesla is even producing “structural” battery packs described as having “zero repairability”.