The battery should be efficient, too. An optimized battery structure is reportedly 50 percent better at using space than a conventional lithium ion phosphate battery. BYD’s upcoming Han EV (above) will reportedly have a healthy cruising range of about 376 miles using the Blade Battery, although there’s a good chance it won’t reach that figure in real-world driving.

We wouldn’t count on driving the Han EV given BYD’s focus on China, especially in light of the COVID-19 outbreak potentially affecting exports. However, this does suggest that truly safe EV batteries may soon be a practical reality. That could improve your chances of escaping a collision unscathed, not to mention reduce the potential for igniting anything nearby.

The situation is especially urgent for the EV and battery industries, according to the researchers from the Institute for Sustainable Futures. Those industries are the main drivers of demand for cobalt, with each EV requiring between five to 10 kilograms of the metal for its lithium-ion batteries. As much as 60 percent of cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has already been charged with using child labor in its mines.

The researchers looked at a total of 14 metals, including those used in solar panels and wind turbines. They estimate that converting to 100 percent renewable energy could increase demand for lithium and nickel by as much as 280 percent and 136 percent, respectively. As Grist reports, the rush to meet that demand would likely increase mining in countries with lax environmental and safety regulations.

According to the report, recycling is our best bet to reduce primary demand. Companies like Apple and Amazon are already working to develop closed-loop recycling systems, but that will only get us so far. As Payal Sampat of Earthworks, which published the study, told Grist, “We’re not going to tech fix our way out of this. It’s going to require more meaningful policy changes that fundamentally reduce the overall demand.”