Page 184 - CW E-Magazine (26-12-2023)

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targets for all Li-ion batteries, and mini- for reuse, and also deciding whether MWh-sized stationary storage system. partnerships between both automotive recycling in some key regions, alongside may incur a gate fee to cover the costs
mum recycled contents targets in new cell-level disassembly is worthwhile. As suggested by research in ID- OEMs and repurposers to manage this battery manufacturers looking to do- of recycling. This, alongside LFP batte-
EV and industrial batteries. India intro- Key tests for assessing the suitability TechEx’s report ‘Second-life Electric supply of high-quality batteries, while mesticate material supply and to shield ries generally exhibiting a longer cycle
duced its ‘Battery Waste Management of batteries for second-life applications Vehicle Batteries 2023-2033’, currently, still dealing with batteries that do not themselves against supply constraints life and being inherently safer than
Rules 2022’, covering EV, portable and include state-of-health (SoH) and inter- a large portion of second-life batteries meet these minimum specifi cations. and fl uctuating prices of virgin mate- NMC/NCA batteries, suggests it will be
industrial batteries with similar targets. nal impedance tests. Generally, those likely reside in China, where they are rials. An important factor to consider is more likely that LFP batteries will be
The EU Battery Regulation targets are batteries with a 70-80% SOH will still used for providing backup energy for To recycle or repurpose batteries for which chemistries are better suited for repurposed for second-life applications.
summarized in Table 1. be suitable for second-life applications. telecom (4G, 5G) towers. second-life applications? recycling or repurposing. From a mate-
Repurposing EV batteries for rial value perspective, LCO, NMC and Therefore, whether a Li-ion battery
Second-life batteries Battery pack designs differ bet- While repurposing at pack-level second-life applications is arguably a NCA chemistries propose much stronger is recycled or repurposed depends on
There may be instances when a bat- ween original equipment manufacturers reduces costs, the performance of the more technically demanding operation economic value propositions for re- the battery source, chemistry, potential
tery has reached the end of its fi rst life (OEMs), and automating such a pro- pack will be limited by the weakest- that relies more on manual labour cycling than LFP. policies, materials prices, and any deve-
and is no longer be able to meet the de- cess is diffi cult. Therefore, manual performing cell. These repurposers and with less predictable economics. lopments in recycling and repurpos-
mands of an EV. EoL is typically de- labour is needed to disassemble EV bat- will, therefore, be leaning more-so on While pack-level integration reduces Whether to repurpose Li-ion batte- ing processes that could improve the
fi ned as the point where a battery falls tery packs, and this workforce will need battery analytics tools and software remanufacturing costs, it relies more on ries for second-life applications or re- outlook for either of these routes. Given
below a certain failure threshold. The to be reasonably skilled to disassemble to closely monitor the performance repurposers using the best-performing cycle them depends on several factors. the high value embedded within NMC
consensus in the industry, especially packs of different designs safely. More- of these batteries and may have con- batteries they are supplied with and LCO batteries are valuable, given the and NCA batteries and the nascent stage
for EV batteries, is that this is when the over, disassembling to cell-level takes ditions in place with customers that monitoring the performance of these high content of cobalt, but are diffi cult of the second-life market, the recycling
maximum battery capacity falls to 70-80% longer and therefore increases manual promise faulty battery replacement. batteries closely over their second life. to collect on a wide scale as consu- market is expected to grow at a faster
of its rated value. However, such a labour costs. These reasons therefore As no modifi cations will be made to the Crucially, repurposing does not replace mers have little incentive to do this. NMC rate. Nevertheless, both second-life
battery could still be used in a less see the majority of second-life battery cell arrangement, repurposers would recycling, but simply delays it and and NCA batteries also have high em- Li-ion batteries and recycling are
demanding stationary energy storage start-ups, scattered across Europe and have to ensure that procured batteries maximizes the value of the battery. bedded value and are, therefore, more expected to play an important role
application, and at a lower cost than a North America, currently integrating are provided to them by an automotive likely to be recycled. LFP batteries are in managing end-of-fi rst-life Li-ion
new Li-ion stationary storage system. EV batteries at pack-level for second- OEM at certain performance specifi - Policies will drive Li-ion battery less valuable, and battery manufacturers batteries over the coming years.
Critically, however, this involves testing life applications. Multiple packs can cations. This could be at minimum SoH
the retired battery to ensure it is still fi t be strung in parallel to create a kWh- or internal impedance. This relies on
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184 Chemical Weekly December 26, 2023 Chemical Weekly December 26, 2023 185

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