End of electric vehicle batteries: reuse vs. recycle

It is a fact that electric vehicles (EVs) are beneficial for climate protection. However, the current challenge is to decide on whether to reuse an EV battery or to recycle it after its first use. This paper theoretically investigates these areas i.e., recycle and reuse. It was found that there are...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Kotak, Yash, Marchante, Carlos, Canals Casals, Lluc|||0000-0002-4791-9917, Bhavya Satishbhai, Kotak, Koch, Daniel, Geisbauer, Christian, Trilla Romero, Lluís|||0000-0002-7586-3834, Gómez-Nuñez, Alberto, Schweiger, Hans-Georg
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/345807
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/345807
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en14082217
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Circular economy
Electric vehicles
Lithium ion batteries
Battery recycling
Battery reuse
Battery second life
Lithium-ion cells
Battery components recycling
Sustainability in mobility
Battery safety
Battery cost analysis
Economia circular
Vehicles elèctrics
Vehicles elèctrics -- Bateries
Bateries d'ió liti
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies
Descripción
Sumario:It is a fact that electric vehicles (EVs) are beneficial for climate protection. However, the current challenge is to decide on whether to reuse an EV battery or to recycle it after its first use. This paper theoretically investigates these areas i.e., recycle and reuse. It was found that there are several commercially used recycling processes and also some are under research to regain maximum possible materials and quantity. The concept of reusing (second life) of the battery is promising because, at the end of the first life, batteries from EVs can be used in several applications such as storing energy generated from renewable sources to support the government grid. However, the cost and life-cycle analysis (LCA) demonstrated that there are several aspects involved in battery reuse applications. Henceforth, one LCA generalised method cannot provide an optimal approach for all cases. It is important to have a detailed study on each of the battery reusing applications. Until then, it is safe to say that reusing the battery is a good option as it would give some time to recycling companies to develop cost and energy-efficient methods.