Sandvik Builds ‘World’s First Useless EV’ to Expose Hidden Reality of Mining

In an era where electric vehicles have become the ultimate symbol of a green future, global engineering group Sandvik, together with creative agency BBDO Nordics, has launched eNimon – the world’s first electric car made entirely without metals or minerals originating from mining. The result is striking: a full-scale, transparent EV that cannot move, function, or even exist as a car.

Named eNimon (“no mine” spelled backwards), the installation is currently on display at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm, one of Scandinavia’s leading institutions for science, innovation and industrial history. Placed in a museum dedicated to technological progress, the project invites visitors to confront an uncomfortable truth: without mining, the green transition stops.

More than 90% of an average electric car consists of materials derived from mining. An EV requires six times more mineral inputs than a conventional vehicle. By stripping away lithium, copper, nickel and cobalt, eNimon is reduced to a ghost-like shell – a visual reminder of how dependent electrification truly is on mined resources.

“We wanted to create an electric car that lacks everything that makes an electric car possible,” said Isaac Bonnier, art director at BBDO Nordics. “Building a full-scale ‘nothing’ was a real challenge – but that’s exactly the point. eNimon visualises how impossible the green transition becomes if we forget where its materials actually come from.”

Continuing a Legacy of ‘Impossible’ Engineering

eNimon builds on Sandvik’s growing reputation for creating thought-provoking, physical installations that make complex challenges easier to understand. In 2022, Sandvik gained international attention with the Impossible Statue – a world-first sculpture that used AI and advanced engineering to bring four of history’s most iconic artists together in a single statue. The project became a major marketing success, earning extensive international media coverage and multiple industry awards.

With eNimon, Sandvik once again uses engineering as storytelling – not to showcase what mining can build, but to show what happens when it disappears.