With the exponential growth in electric vehicle sales, the number of lithium-ion batteries increased by 80 times between 2000 and 2018. Of these, 66% were intended for an electric vehicle. The rise of this market poses a new major challenge: battery recycling. What happens when they become obsolete? Are they recyclable? Qovoltis explains it to you.
What happens to the used battery in an electric car?
It depends on its condition: if it is still working, but is not powerful enough for an electric car, it is directed to “second life use”. It then makes it possible to store electricity to supply a house, a business or a business. It is only when it is unusable that it joins the recycling circuit.
Good to know: the battery represents up to 50% of the value of an electric vehicle; it is its most expensive and largest organ! To extend its lifespan, there are a few tips to follow.
Also to read: Electric car battery: 5 good habits to preserve it
Battery recycling: where are we?
The composition of the battery depends on the manufacturer. There is a plurality of technologies, and as many different compositions. As a general rule, these fall under industrial secrecy and evolve year after year in accordance with technological progress. In addition to lithium, the main components of a battery are generally cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper, and graphite. These materials are mostly recyclable.
In France, The recycling of electric car batteries is required*. This means that manufacturers must ensure that the batteries sold will be collected by an approved company once they are obsolete. To comply with this obligation, car manufacturers conclude long-term contracts with recycling plants, as is the case for Renault with Euro Dieuze Industrie.
While there are recycling factories today, there is no real industrial sector around the recycling of electric vehicle batteries. This is due to the fact that the expansion of the electric car is recent, and that many batteries are not yet at the end of their life. Currently, recyclers receive too few quantities of vehicle batteries.
During recycling, the battery is first disassembled. Two methods are then used, together or separately:
— pyrometallurgy: battery cells are destroyed by carbonization in furnaces;
— hydrometallurgy: the cells are mechanically ground.
The resulting powder contains metal compounds (lithium, nickel, nickel, cobalt, copper, etc.) recovered after having undergone various chemical treatments. They are then transformed into pure ingot, to be sold and allow the manufacture of new objects. Thanks to these processes, recycling centers succeed in recovering between 70% and 90% of the battery's weight.
*The recycling of electric car batteries is supervised by Article R543-130 of the French Environmental Code, and the Directive 2006/66/EC in the European Union.
What is the future for the recycling of car batteries?
The battery recycling is one of the most sensitive subjects concerning the electric car: the main materials that compose it indeed present risks of availability and remain difficult to find in Europe.
This is a powerful economic argument for improving the recyclability of batteries. According to the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) at the University of Technology in Sydney, recycling could reduce global demand in 2040 for:
— 25% for lithium;
— 35% for nickel and cobalt;
— 55% for copper.
On the manufacturer side, there is still room for improvement. In a report, the ISF notes that they lack economic and regulatory incentives and are not sufficiently encouraged to use recycled materials. To overcome this problem, the European Commission wants to impose a minimum rate of recycled materials during the manufacture of batteries as early as 2030:12% cobalt, 4% lithium and 4% nickel.
Sources: Le Point, The Conversation, Clean car
