How to deal with lithium-ion batteries becomes a difficult problem for electric vehicles to scrap

New energy vehicles have eliminated the pollution caused by the exhaust of traditional fuel vehicles to the atmosphere, but the environmental pollution caused by the use of batteries after waste has brought new problems to the society. The policy has spared no effort to make various subsidy programs and guidance, but still has a long way to go.

The British "Financial Times" website published an article on September 3, saying that as electric vehicles gradually become the mainstream of travel vehicles, companies are preparing to deal with an important environmental problem: once electric vehicles are scrapped, the lithium used to drive them How to deal with ion batteries ?

Roskilde Information Services predicts that by 2025, the battery used in electric vehicles will account for 90% of the lithium-ion battery market. This will increase the demand for lithium by a factor of four, and the demand for cobalt will more than double. Lithium and cobalt are two basic elements in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries. This year, the price of cobalt has risen by more than 80%.

However, although the recycling of small lithium-ion batteries is not common, many companies are hoping to recycle car batteries and are trying to profit from recycling used car batteries in various ways.

Since 2006, the beautiful company in Belgium has become one of the few companies to recycle lithium-ion batteries. It uses a smelting and chemical leaching process to recover the metal. The company said it is currently conducting a pilot project to recycle electric car batteries. This is in preparation for the possibility of a "significant" number of car batteries entering the market in 2025.

One of the problems is that lithium-ion batteries on electric vehicles use a variety of different chemical processes, making standardized recycling difficult.

Linda Gaines, an analyst at the Transportation Research Center at Argonne National Laboratory, said: "Everyone is using their own methods. Recycling lead-acid batteries is much simpler."

Oregon-based On Technologies hopes to circumvent this problem. The approach it takes is to produce high-quality battery electrode materials directly from used batteries, rather than disassembling battery components.

The company's founder, Steve Slupp, said: "This will definitely become a dynamic industry by 2025. Now between 2020 and 2020, it will try to practice and take back the materials for manufacturing. "

The Canadian recycling company "Lithium Cycle" said it would be profitable to recycle all of its battery materials. The company claims it can recycle all types of lithium-ion batteries and recover 90% of its materials, including lithium, cobalt, copper and graphite.

The company’s CEO and co-founder, Ajay Cochhal, said: “To achieve full economic value this will make it profitable. To really understand what will drive this market, you need to consider all other valuable parts."

Kirkhar estimates that by 2030, more than 11 million tons of used lithium-ion batteries will be discarded. His company hopes to start processing 5,000 tons a year and eventually processing 250,000 tons a year.

Automakers are also considering battery recycling.

In a tweet in July last year, Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk said that the Tesla super factory in Nevada "will be fully powered by clean energy and include battery recycling after completion."

China and the European Union have introduced rules that will allow automakers to recycle their batteries.

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