What are electric cars made of?
Electric cars take 11 things directly, among them sheet steel, aluminum, paint, electric motor, copper wire and electric car battery. Trace them back and you pass 93 made things on the way to 34 raw materials.
How electric cars are made See it on the map
What goes straight in
- Sheet steelat Press the body panels
- Aluminumat Press the body panels
- Paintat Paint the body
- Electric motorat Build the drive unit
- Copper wireat Build the drive unit
- Electric car batteryat Bolt the battery under the floor
- Printed circuit boardat Wire the power electronics
- Microchipat Wire the power electronics
- Windshieldat Fit glass, seats and wheels
- Tireat Fit glass, seats and wheels
- Airbagat Fit glass, seats and wheels
From the ground: 34 raw materials
- Crude oil through aluminum
- Coal through aluminum
- Water through paint
- Natural rubber latex through tire
- Sulfur through tire
- Zinc ore through sheet steel, zinc
- Air through sheet steel, zinc
- Bauxite through aluminum, alumina
- Titanium ore through paint, titanium dioxide
- Iron ore through paint, pigment
- Copper ore through microchip, copper
- Silica sand through printed circuit board, fiberglass
- Limestone through printed circuit board, fiberglass
- Quartz through microchip, silicon wafer
- Tin ore through microchip, tin
- Gold ore through microchip, gold
- Dolomite through windshield, window glass
- Manganese ore through electric car battery, steel, manganese
- Natural gas through paint, acrylic, methanol
- Rock salt through printed circuit board, fiberglass, soda ash
- Lithium brine through electric car battery, lithium-ion cell, lithium carbonate
- Spodumene through electric car battery, lithium-ion cell, lithium carbonate
- Cobalt ore through electric car battery, lithium-ion cell, cobalt
- Nickel ore through electric car battery, lithium-ion cell, nickel
- Trona through printed circuit board, fiberglass, soda ash
- Lead ore through printed circuit board, solder, lead
- Silver ore through printed circuit board, solder, silver
- Soybeans through windshield, ink, vegetable oil
- Rapeseed through windshield, ink, vegetable oil
- Clay through windshield, ink, vegetable oil
- Corn through windshield, ink, ethanol
- Sugarcane through windshield, ink, ethanol
- Timber through airbag, silicone, metallurgical silicon
- Sugar beet through windshield, ink, ethanol, baker's yeast, molasses
Made along the way: 82 things
Metals 18
SteelZincAluminaCopperSolderTinGoldSteel wireBrassPig ironMagnesiumSteel scrapManganeseCokeCobaltNickelLeadSilver
Metal goods 1
Chemicals and fuels 38
Petroleum cokeTitanium dioxidePigmentAdhesiveOxygen gasInkCarbon blackQuicklimeArgonSulfuric acidCaustic sodaChlorinePropyleneAmmoniaMethanolPhenolAcetoneSynthetic graphiteParaffin waxSoda ashNitrogen gasHydrogenEthanolPlasticizerNaphthaBenzeneEthyleneStyreneNitric acidHydrochloric acidPropaneCarbon dioxideFormaldehydeHexaneToluenePara-xyleneEthylene glycolCharcoal
Plastics and fibers 13
AcrylicEpoxyFiberglassPolyvinyl butyralSynthetic rubberNylonPolyesterSiliconePolyethylenePolyurethanePhenolic resinPolyvinyl alcoholPET plastic
Glass, stone and ceramics 1
Clothes and textiles 1
Electronics 7
Lithium-ion cellPhotoresistSilicon waferLithium carbonatePolysiliconMetallurgical siliconTrichlorosilane