Electric Traction Motor Recycling – Modelling and Assessment of Recycling Potentials

The electrification of consumer cars is one of the most disruptive trends in the history of the automotive industry. Every year, electric motor vehicles will reach the end of their useful life, creating tonnes of waste. As electric vehicle adoption continues to grow worldwide, it is increasingly important to consider the vehicle’s end-of-life in order to meet the societal demand for more sustainable economic growth. Despite existing literature highlighting the commercial potential of recycling traction motors, especially NdFeB magnets due to the material’s rarity and high value, traction motor recycling remains in its infancy. In order to address this crucial gap in the literature, an overview for recommended recycling routes was developed taking various stakeholder perspectives into account - under the premise that the preferred recycling route changes with different targeted customer segments and overall business goals. From this set of recommendations, it was evaluated whether a direct re-processing route can be a commercially feasible. A recycling model was developed to simulate different scenarios within the timeframe of 2019 - 2030. Multiple scenarios are identified that point to a profitable recycling operation located either in the EU or UK. The EU offers a significantly higher market attractiveness regarding overall revenue potential, cost-reducing opportunities and profitability. It is predicted that the UK would suffer particularly from an exclusion of the European Single Market in terms of tariff duties and logistical challenges.