Identification of critical metals and potential bottlenecks in passenger cars through a thermodynamic approach

The automobile sector is one of the main industries to hold the economy of several countries globally since millions of units are manufactured every year. This sector is introducing new technology in every new model being released to obtain more innovative vehicles, conditioned for the Internet of Things (IoT), well established in the current society. Smarter cars carry out a hidden cost that is not being evaluated, the so-called scarcity of mineral resources. In this paper, several car parts of different models will be analyzed with a thermodynamic rarity approach, and a general overview and comparison will be made with the models studied. As a result of the study, it will be obtained to identify the most critical parts of each model, spotting why they are considered at risk with a future bottleneck. Accordingly, some solutions will be provided to avoid the scarcity of some metals and, therefore, avoid breaking the supply chain.