Recycling EV batteries won’t become a mainstream business until 2030, according to a new report by research firm Wood Mackenzie.
Recycling used EV battery packs has been discussed as a way to reduce the need for resources, but it will be difficult for recyclers to achieve cost and volume competitiveness, or even find enough battery packs to recycle, according to the report.
While battery recycling has gained some traction with portable electronics, EV battery packs are inherently difficult to disassemble into individual cells to separate recyclable materials, the report says. . That makes it difficult for recyclers to meet production volumes of new batteries, according to the report.
Volkswagen battery recycling
New batteries also have lower manufacturing costs, and manufacturers are switching to cheaper materials that could change the cost equation further, the report said. The report notes that automakers are also looking beyond the currently dominant field of lithium-ion chemistry to solid-state cells, which will require recyclers to change their processes. them, the report noted.
The report also predicts that the supply of recyclable EV battery packs will remain limited for the foreseeable future. That’s because relatively few electric vehicles were sold earlier in the decade, and newer ones are expected to last longer.
As a result, recycling capacity will exceed the supply of recyclable battery packs by 2030, leaving recyclers to “scramble” for packages, the report predicts. However, the expected increase in electric vehicle production over the next decade could eventually alleviate that imbalance, the report notes.
Recommended Redwood Materials cathode factory rendering
So while The Biden administration is pushing to develop more battery recycling infrastructure, there may not be many packages for it yet.
The same goes for some of the automaker’s recently announced initiatives aimed at recovering high percentages of materials. Ford has partnered with JB Straubel’s redwood material, while General Motors has partnered with Li-Cycle. Volkswagen claims to have developed its own process to be able to recover 95% of raw material of EV . battery.
Prior to recycling, there may also be other uses for the EV battery pack. Several automakers have discussed replacing them for static energy storage, and there have been other innovative independent efforts. For example, a California-based company built an energy storage array use 160 Nissan Leaf battery packs.
