For now, the Mongolian government is also working to establish an integrated system: linking customs, road transport authorities, vehicle registration agencies and auto-repair businesses to ensure a coordinated response to the problem.
There remains a lack of pre-export inspection on the quality of the cars and their battery units coming into the country.
“Mongolia could feasibly set a minimum battery health threshold that it will or will not accept in the future,” Enkhtaivan said.
As Mongolia struggles with a problem it did not solely create, its experience offers a warning to every country concerned about the EV transition, she added.
As more electric vehicles with lithium batteries enter the country, the problem will not disappear, only shift.
According to the International Energy Agency, global electric‐car sales in 2024 exceeded 17 million units.
While sales in emerging economies including in Asia, Latin America and Africa were still low, they nearly doubled that year.
“You must build a complete, integrated waste-management system before these vehicles enter your market. If there is one lesson from Mongolia, it is this,” she said.
“That entire chain should be visible and traceable, as clearly as reading it on the palm of your hand. Now we are chasing after the problem.”