Is Electric Vehicles Battery Recovery a Source of Cost or Profit

The lithium-ion battery technology as the today’s best available technology is a key in accompanying vehicles electrification. Its end-of-life recovery is lever in overcoming technical challenges towards electromobility deployment, such as battery cost, environmental impact, the availability of constituent materials and the mandatory recycling rate. In this chapter, we focus on economic aspects, in order to assess the end-of-life recovery impact: we analyze the end-of-life cost evolution of lithium-ion batteries to determine whether it will be a source of cost or profit for car manufacturers. We define and analyze two recovery options: on the one hand, simply recycling which is mandatory by regulation and, on the other hand, repurposing for reuse in many second life applications (from residence related applications to energy storage and grid stabilization). To account for the complexity and the long-term horizon of our study (2030), we combine the use of System Dynamics with the Stanford Research Institute Matrix for building scenarios that mix relevant factors such as the electric vehicle market and the proportion of repurposing for reuse. Finally we show that repurposing could lower the battery’s initial cost—under certain conditions regarding the future battery price and the repurposing cost—where recycling might increase it.

[1]  John Lippert,et al.  Technical and Economic Feasibility of Applying Used EV Batteries in Stationary Applications , 2003 .

[2]  Sandrine Mathy,et al.  Les scénarios de transition énergétique de l'ANCRE , 2014 .

[3]  Guzay Pasaoglu,et al.  Potential vehicle fleet CO2 reductions and cost implications for various vehicle technology deployment scenarios in Europe , 2012 .

[4]  John D. Sterman,et al.  System Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World , 2002 .

[5]  J. Dewulf,et al.  Resource demand for the production of different cathode materials for lithium ion batteries , 2014 .

[6]  Henri Moll,et al.  Lithium availability in the EU27 for battery-driven vehicles: The impact of recycling and substitution on the confrontation between supply and demand until2050 , 2013 .

[7]  Karsten Kieckhäfer,et al.  Impact of Mandatory Rates on the Recycling of Lithium-Ion Batteries from Electric Vehicles in Germany , 2013 .

[8]  Jeremy Neubauer,et al.  A Techno-Economic Analysis of PEV Battery Second Use: Repurposed-Battery Selling Price and Commercial and Industrial End-User Value , 2012 .

[9]  Karsten Kieckhäfer,et al.  Technology and capacity planning for the recycling of lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries in Germany , 2015 .

[10]  Callie W. Babbitt,et al.  Cathode refunctionalization as a lithium ion battery recycling alternative , 2014 .

[11]  B. Friedrich,et al.  Development of a recycling process for Li-ion batteries , 2012 .

[12]  L. Ahmadi,et al.  Energy efficiency of Li-ion battery packs re-used in stationary power applications , 2014 .

[13]  Hong-Chao Zhang,et al.  End-of-life (EOL) issues and options for electric vehicle batteries , 2013, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy.

[14]  Pushpam Kumar.  Agriculture (Chapter8) in IPCC, 2007: Climate change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , 2007 .

[15]  J. Salminen,et al.  Lithium ion battery production , 2012 .

[16]  Stefan Spinler,et al.  Valuation of electric vehicle batteries in vehicle-to-grid and battery-to-grid systems , 2012 .

[17]  Pascal Da Costa,et al.  A Sectoral Prospective Analysis of CO2 Emissions in China, USA and France, 2010-2050 , 2015 .

[18]  Bert Saveyn,et al.  Economic analysis of a low carbon path to 2050: A case for China, India and Japan , 2012 .