[Just to note I did a life cycle analysis of EV’s as they compare to a standard ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle in college of 2019. This comment is from memory and quick google searching as I can’t find my original paper and the info would be out if date anyway.]

Even if you look at EVs solely from the energy perspective they are more sustainable than a standard ICE vehicle simply because the energy from the grid is more efficiently produced than an ICE engine when powered by 100% fossil fuels. There is also regenerative breaking in an EV which can help recover energy that an ICE can’t get back. The only real problem with this is that EVs force us to improve the grid to provide a much higher energy capacity than normal. This would greatly decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and allow for increased renewable energy since you literally have no choice for an ICE but you can choose to go solar at home and power your car solely from that.

In terms of materials it depends on how you analyze the sustainability of the materials. By that I mean it depends on if you are looking at the current issues versus the possible future recyclability by the time an EV purchased today would need to be replaced. The two worst offenders for EVs are the batteries and the DC (Direct current) motors. We have AC (Alternating current) motors though and DC motors are only really “bad”because they use rare earth magnets to function (which are only “recyclable” if they are completely undamaged and even a scratch can damage them making them unusable for an EV) while AC motors use large copper windings and more electricity than DC motors. Lithium in new car batteries is almost 100% mined (not sure of the actual number as it was 100% in 2019 and I can’t find a source for how much of the lithium in new vehicles come from recycled Lithium) and not recycled because companies that have started to recycle Lithium are new. There has been progress towards newer battery materials that are more sustainable such as salt based batteries (table salt, aluminum, and sulfur are the materials for used this battery). The technology is newer (2022) and therefore more expensive since there isn’t currently any company that makes batteries like this and the researchers now hold a patent on it.

I think its important to remember EVs are a newer technology and their sustainability has a huge potential for growth. Replacing Lithium or implementing large scale Lithium recycling would make EVs significantly more sustainable than ICE vehicles.