Are EVs making the ‘forever chemicals’ crisis even worse?

A new study found that lithium ion batteries—which power millions of electric vehicles—can leach PFAS into the air, water, and soil.

One of the big challenges of the energy transition is to wean humanity off of planet-warming fossil fuels swiftly but sustainably. Many environmentalists worry that in our desperation to solve global warming, we’ll reach for novel technologies without fully understanding their potential downsides. And evidence is mounting that this may be the case with the batteries powering millions of electric vehicles. A new study published in the journal Nature Communications finds that lithium-ion batteries contain “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, that are polluting the air and water.