Fabian Bimmer/Reuters
Your average EV has six times more mineral content than a petrol- or diesel-powered vehicle. All those metals need to be dug, scraped, blasted, or leached out of the earth. There is massive demand for batteries as countries eye up ambitious zero-emissions targets. But what's the cost?
One of Sri Lanka's oldest mines holds valuable deposits of graphite, a critical mineral that makes up the largest part of EV batteries. But even though the country produces the world's purest form, experts say Sri Lanka isn't a global competitor.