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Semi-finished product · Electronic components

Lithium-ion battery pack

One kilogram of assembled lithium-ion battery pack

This page shows what the product is made of and where each figure comes from. It does not show a death toll. The toll is calculated from this list of materials, and will be published only once it has a range and the model has passed its test on past years.

A complete electric-car traction battery: cells, module hardware and pack hardware. Argonne's BEV NMC532 pack stores 70.6 kWh in 314.09 kg — 4.45 kg per kilowatt-hour — and is 81% cells by mass. Everything above the cell is aluminium housing, a cooling circuit and management electronics.

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The human cost, per item

One item is one kilogram of assembled lithium-ion battery pack. Scenario Resource-only, using FIGARO 2023. Each figure is the middle result of 2,000 runs of the calculation, with the range that holds nine in ten of them beside it, and the grade that range earns.

Deaths

3.0 × 10⁻⁹ per item(1.8–5.3 × 10⁻⁹)LOWS-RES · run 2165 · methodology v0.1 · data dv-20261007-44r

Deaths per item: the rangeThe range that holds nine in ten of the runs, on a scale where each step is ten times the last: 1.8–5.3 × 10⁻⁹. The dot is the middle result; a figure graded indicative has none.10⁻¹⁰10⁻⁹10⁻⁸10⁻⁷

The product’s list of materials traces 81% of its weight to raw materials the model knows. The rest carries no harm in this method, which is why this method gives a floor.

Injuries

1.7 × 10⁻⁷ per item(0.98–3.2 × 10⁻⁷)LOWS-RES · run 2165 · methodology v0.1 · data dv-20261007-44r

Injuries per item: the rangeThe range that holds nine in ten of the runs, on a scale where each step is ten times the last: 0.98–3.2 × 10⁻⁷. The dot is the middle result; a figure graded indicative has none.10⁻⁸10⁻⁷10⁻⁶

The product’s list of materials traces 81% of its weight to raw materials the model knows. The rest carries no harm in this method, which is why this method gives a floor.

Deaths and injuries at work in these figures come from the 53 countries that reported work deaths and the 52 that reported work injuries for 2023.

Harm at work is counted as each country reports it to the UN’s labour statistics (ILOSTAT), and never estimated for a country that did not report: such a country is missing from that year, not counted as zero. So when two years’ figures differ, part of the difference can be a change in which countries reported. The model’s own year-to-year checks compare only countries that reported in both years.

Deaths: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Rep., Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, United States, Uzbekistan

Injuries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, United States, Uzbekistan

The money method — per €1,000 spent

Two methods, never added together. The materials method counts only what the product’s list of materials reaches, so it is a floor. The money method counts the whole supply chain of the industry for each euro spent, so in principle it misses nothing — but it cannot see what this particular product is made of.

In human terms

One death for every 190 million – 560 million items.

By the money method, about €560 million – €1.3 billion of spending in its industry for each death.

Rounded so that it stays within the range, so the sentence never claims more than the range does.

Under each scenario

Five answers to how much of the harm counted in a place is linked to its economy. Same product, same year, same trade table: only the rule for linking harm to the economy changes.

Deaths per item under each scenarioEach line is one scenario’s range, on a scale where each step is ten times the last; the dot is its middle result.10⁻¹⁰10⁻⁹10⁻⁸10⁻⁷10⁻⁶S-MAXEconomic-embeddedS-EVIDEvidence-weightedS-RESResource-onlyS-ARMSArms and resourcesS-CONSConservative

Where it comes from

By raw material — the materials method

By raw material — the materials methodEach bar is one contributor’s share of the deaths in this figure; the rest is grouped last.Cobalt — 40%Cobalt40%Copper — 34%Copper34%Natural graphite — 9.0%Natural graphite9.0%Nickel — 9.0%Nickel9.0%Lithium — 7.3%Lithium7.3%Manganese — 0.42%Manganese0.42%Coal and lignite — 0.14%Coal and lignite0.14%Bauxite — 0.14%Bauxite0.14%Everything else — <0.1%Everything else<0.1%

By industry — the money method

By industry — the money methodEach bar is one contributor’s share of the deaths in this figure; the rest is grouped last.Mining and quarrying — 58%Mining and quarrying58%Manufacture of basic metals — 41%Manufacture of basic metals41%Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities — 1.1%Crop and animal production, h…1.1%Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply — 0.16%Electricity, gas, steam and a…0.16%Water collection, treatment and supply — 0.13%Water collection, treatment a…0.13%Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products — <0.1%Manufacture of coke and refin…<0.1%Forestry and logging — <0.1%Forestry and logging<0.1%Real estate activities — <0.1%Real estate activities<0.1%Everything else — <0.1%Everything else<0.1%

Where the harm was counted

Where the harm was countedEach dot is a country, placed at its capital, sized by its share of the deaths in this figure.Congo, Dem. Rep. 50%Mexico 23%Sri Lanka 8.7%Colombia 7.3%Portugal — 4.1%Australia — 1.8%Canada — 1.5%Russian Federation — 1.1%Turkiye — 0.97%Argentina — 0.80%Poland — 0.31%United States — 0.30%Korea, Rep. — 0.24%Georgia — 0.15%Ukraine — 0.14%Romania — <0.1%Greece — <0.1%Austria — <0.1%Norway — <0.1%Mongolia — <0.1%Germany — <0.1%Czechia — <0.1%Bulgaria — <0.1%Slovak Republic — <0.1%Thailand — <0.1%Japan — <0.1%Uzbekistan — <0.1%
Each circle is a country, at its capital, sized by its share of the deaths in this figure. The largest are named; point at or tap any other circle to see its name.
Every material, in full
By raw material — the materials method
MaterialShareDeaths per item
Cobalt 40%1.2 × 10⁻⁹
Copper 34%1.0 × 10⁻⁹
Natural graphite 9.0%2.7 × 10⁻¹⁰
Nickel 9.0%2.7 × 10⁻¹⁰
Lithium 7.3%2.2 × 10⁻¹⁰
Manganese 0.42%1.3 × 10⁻¹¹
Coal and lignite 0.14%4.3 × 10⁻¹²
Bauxite 0.14%4.1 × 10⁻¹²
Iron ore <0.1%1.1 × 10⁻¹³

The chain, step by step

The largest step at each stage of the model. Each links to the full account, where every stage adds up to the headline figure.

  1. Lithium-ion battery pack
  2. Cobalt 40% of the figure
  3. Congo, Dem. Rep. 50% of the figure
  4. Conflict and political violence 77% of the figure
  5. DR Congo (Zaire): Government 38% of the figure

The full breakdown →

Sources behind this figure

Every data file that went into this figure in this calculation, with the credit its licence asks for.

What this figure is not

Production phase only. Harm from using the product — driving the car, charging the phone — is not in this figure.

How to read these numbers →

Beside the most similar products

The two products whose deaths per kilogram are closest to this one’s, by the materials method.

Cite this figure

HumanToll 2026, run 2165, methodology v0.1. https://quiescence.eu/humantoll/product/battery-pack/

What it is made of

Each line is one part of one kilogram of assembled lithium-ion battery pack: how much of it goes in, how much had to be produced to get that much (some is wasted along the way), and where the figure comes from.

What it is made of
Component Quantity Source
Lithium-ion cell
part 		811 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 254.63 kg of cells in a pack of 314.09 kg, which is 810.69 g per kilogram of pack
Aluminium
part 		134 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 42.07 kg of aluminium in module (11.76 kg) and pack (30.31 kg) hardware in a pack of 314.09 kg, which is 133.94 g per kilogram of pack
Coolant: ethylene glycol
part 		27.1 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 8.5 kg of glycol coolant in a pack of 314.09 kg, which is 27.06 g per kilogram of pack
Battery management electronics
part 		17.0 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 5.34 kg of electronic parts in module (1.12 kg) and pack (4.22 kg) hardware in a pack of 314.09 kg, which is 17.0 g per kilogram of pack. The source does not say what is in them, so they are carried by name and mass and reach no supply chain
Steel
part 		5.83 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 1.83 kg of steel in the pack enclosure in a pack of 314.09 kg, which is 5.83 g per kilogram of pack
Thermal insulation
part 		3.44 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 1.08 kg of insulation in module (0.11 kg) and pack (0.97 kg) hardware in a pack of 314.09 kg, which is 3.44 g per kilogram of pack
Copper
part 		1.62 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 0.51 kg of copper busbars and wiring in module (0.42 kg) and pack (0.09 kg) hardware in a pack of 314.09 kg, which is 1.62 g per kilogram of pack
Polyethylene
part 		0.410 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 0.13 kg of polyethylene in module hardware in a pack of 314.09 kg, which is 0.41 g per kilogram of pack

Down to raw materials

The whole chain worked out — everything one kilogram of assembled lithium-ion battery pack needs, through every product in between, with all the waste along the way included.

Down to raw materials
Input Per item
Bauxite 693 g
Coal and lignite 3.45 g
Cobalt 48.5 g
Copper 71.6 g
Iron ore 6.62 g
Lithium 27.6 g
Manganese 65.5 g
Natural graphite 198 g
Nickel 120 g
Battery management electronics (not in the register) 17.0 g
Carbon black (conductive additive) (not in the register) 8.03 g
Coolant: ethylene glycol (not in the register) 27.1 g
Dimethyl carbonate (electrolyte solvent) (not in the register) 36.7 g
Electricity, calcination (not in the register) 2.45 kWh
Electricity, electric arc furnace route (not in the register) 0.00402 MJ
Ethylene carbonate (electrolyte solvent) (not in the register) 36.7 g
Limestone (not in the register) 1.26 g
Lithium hexafluorophosphate (electrolyte salt) (not in the register) 13.1 g
Natural gas, precursor co-precipitation (not in the register) 4.12 kWh
Oxygen, chemically bound (not in the register) 124 g
Polyethylene (not in the register) 0.410 g
Polyethylene (separator) (not in the register) 1.78 g
Polyethylene terephthalate (not in the register) 1.85 g
Polypropylene (separator and casing) (not in the register) 7.90 g
Polyvinylidene fluoride binder (not in the register) 12.1 g
Recycled steel (scrap) (not in the register) 1.75 g
Thermal insulation (not in the register) 3.44 g

An input marked “not in the register” is counted by weight but is not yet linked to any supply chain. Services such as transport appear as the euros, or tonnes carried a kilometre, that the list of materials gives them.

How much of it is known in detail

100% of this product’s weight is listed in detail in its own list of materials.

Its whole chain uses 1.53 kg of materials, waste included. 81% of that is raw materials the model knows — the part it can trace harm to — 19% is inputs not yet on the list, and 0% is an openly stated remainder.

In the table of what industries buy from each other it belongs to “Manufacture of electrical equipment” (FIGARO industry C27).

In the table of what industries buy from each other it belongs to “Manufacture of electrical equipment” (FIGARO industry C27).

What uses it

Products whose own list of materials includes this one.

Sources

Products →

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