Where are all the old power batteries?

In 2009, the "Ten Cities and Thousand Vehicles" plan for new energy vehicles was launched, and China officially opened the demonstration and promotion of new energy vehicles. In 2013, new energy vehicles in Beijing, Shanghai and other places began to be used for demonstration. Subsequently, new energy vehicles entered the era of private consumption. According to the life cycle and life of the power cell, the power cell in the "Ten Cities and Thousands" phase has already entered the scrap recovery phase. In fact, due to the short service life of early batteries, some of the new energy vehicles in the demonstration promotion phase have been unable to continue their power batteries. So, where are all these decommissioned power cells?

Recovery value is small and can only be idle.

"In a parking lot on the outskirts of Beijing, a group of electric cars that were once used for rental have been idle for a long time. Due to various reasons such as the shortening of vehicle mileage, this group of electric vehicles that entered the market first could not continue to be used. "This is the scene described by an expert in the field of power battery scrap recycling during the reporter's interview. However, the reporter was puzzled, why the car was left unattended? Why didn't it flow into scrap recycling? The expert told reporters that the low value of debris is one of the main reasons why no one cares. Most of the residual value of electric vehicles comes from power batteries, and early power batteries have a lower residual value due to technology, production, and other reasons. Therefore, while the vehicle is idle, the power battery can not enter the normal scrap recovery. "Battery recycling is cheap and doesn't know where to sell it. It was a dilemma for Ms Zhang, who was lucky enough to join Beijing's first group of electric car owners.

It is not difficult to find that the first new energy vehicles to enter the market, whether privately owned or owned by operators, have experienced the test of flow after their power batteries were retired.

The information learned from the car scrapping and dismantling plant is that many power batteries have been dismantled before the vehicle enters the scrapping and dismantling, but I don’t know where to go. Gao Yanli, vice president and secretary-general of China Materials Recycling Association, said in an interview with China Auto News that Beijing is the first city to demonstrate and promote electric vehicles. Some electric vehicles that are demonstration and operated in the public transportation sector have entered the scrapping stage. However, most of its batteries have been recycled by the OEM. "For example, the electric vehicles that have been demonstrated and operated during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games have already been scrapped, but that part of the vehicle's power batteries have been recycled by research institutes or manufacturers. In the experimental study. In addition, it is not clear where other power batteries go. Gao Yanli introduced that the early power battery was used for research and development after completing the mission of providing power for the vehicle. All parties hope to develop the next generation battery better after the actual operation of the battery. However, the power battery used in research and development is after all. It is a small part, and most of the other destinations are more worthy of attention. Perhaps the unseen power batteries have been idle due to low recycling value and lack of recycling subjects, and have not entered the real scrap recycling.

No recycling is the main reason.

Prior to this, a variety of data analysis predicted that 2018 power cells will enter a centralized end-of-life period. The reason is that the newly promoted new energy vehicles, which are generally used for commercial vehicles for 3 years and passenger vehicles for 5 years, will be scrapped. Some organizations estimate that in 2018, the market size of power lithium battery scrap recovery will exceed 14 GWh, and it is expected that the theoretical scrap volume will reach 37 GWh in 2020, and the market revenue of power lithium battery recovery will exceed 11 billion yuan. For the whereabouts of these end-of-life power cells, there are theoretically two kinds of places to go. One is for ladder use and the other is to directly recover materials. Echelon utilization is an effective method to maximize the value of end-of-life power batteries, and it is also an active method in China. However, there are still many problems to be solved. And direct material recovery, from the current state of development, there are also many difficulties.

In addition, due to poor performance, most of the power cells used in early use do not have the value of echelon use and can only be directly recycled. So why didn't the unused battery go into material recovery? In Gaoyanli's view, apart from the low residual value, the loss of the recovery body is the more important reason.

"From the point of view of the scrapping plant, they only dismantle the vehicle body, and the power cells need to be dismantled and sent to a specialized processing factory for recycling. "Gaoyanli said that the recycling of power batteries needs to be carried out by companies with special qualifications. Unlike traditional lead-acid batteries, this part of the company is reviewed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the lead-acid battery recycling company is approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. General lead-acid battery recovery treatment enterprises do not have the power battery recovery treatment qualifications and capabilities. However, due to the fact that power battery recycling has not entered a large-scale industrialization stage, there are not many enterprises that are qualified or engaged in related businesses.

From the recycling end of the power battery, the recovery of raw materials for the power battery is not a simple matter. It is not easy to obtain only the subject qualification. “The power battery recycling industry is a highly polluting industry. Taking Beijing as an example, such high-pollution projects have not been approved.” Guo Jie, deputy general manager of Beijing Saidemei Resources Recycling Research Institute Co., Ltd. told reporters. Therefore, the power batteries decommissioned in Beijing have flowed to the echelon utilization market or are used for R&D. However, due to the marketization development of the echelon utilization, the retired power battery has been idle.

In addition, the technical requirements of Gaohe's low profit also limited the development of the recycling end. Zhang Changling, a senior engineer at China Automotive Technology Research Center Co., Ltd., said in an interview with the media that some battery recycling companies still use manual dismantling or traditional recycling processes because the key technologies for power battery decommissioning and recycling are not yet mature enough. The use of traditional processes to recycle used lithium iron phosphate power cells, not only can not be profitable, but may lose money. Moke, chief researcher of real lithium research, also said that because the raw material recovery of power lithium batteries requires professional technology and equipment, the technology content is high, and the equipment cost is also high. There are not many companies in the market that can recycle power battery raw materials.

For these two reasons, it is also difficult for companies that see the prospect of power battery scrap recycling to enter the industry. It is difficult to approve them out of the door, and companies will face the test of survival when the current phase of power battery recycling industrialization has not yet arrived. It is understood that the recovery of raw materials for power batteries will cause a large degree of pollution. Extractive agents used in the recovery process, exhaust gas generated during the recovery process, and residues after metal extraction will cause pollution to the environment. This is also why these companies are not approved. Even if some companies can solve environmental problems, they also have to pay a huge cost.

In addition to the upgrading of power cell recycling technology and process level, high recycling cost, and lack of recovery body, the relevant laws and regulations for power cell recycling have yet to be improved, and the construction of power cell recycling network needs to be strengthened.

The closed-loop management system is expected to break down

It is gratifying to note that with the increase of power battery end-of-life, the problem of power battery recycling industry has been paid attention to by all parties, and relevant management departments have also proposed solutions; Companies looking at the market potential of the future are also actively planning the layout in this area.

Further to the Interim Measures on the Management of the Recovery and Utilization of New Energy Vehicle power battery, which encourage the use and recycling of end-of-life power batteries, and hopes to construct closed-loop power battery life cycle management with coding and other measures, Local governments are also actively promoting end-of-life recycling of power batteries. On April 2, the Shenzhen Municipal Development and Reform Commission issued the "Shenzhen Pilot Work Plan for the Construction of a National System for the Regulation and Recycling of New Energy Vehicle power batteries(2018-2020)", proposing that by 2020, all new energy vehicle power batteries that are included in the scope of subsidies will be under full life cycle supervision. We will establish a comprehensive power cell regulatory recycling system. The Shenzhen plan requires that the new energy vehicle manufacturers sold in Shenzhen should set up no less than five Weibao network stores in the city to be responsible for the maintenance, replacement and recycling of new energy vehicle power batteries sold. For the power batteries loaded on the new energy vehicles sold, the company can use the kWh special unit to calculate a certain amount of power battery recovery and processing funds, and grant subsidies in accordance with the prescribed standards, and apply for procedures after recycling.

The introduction of closed-loop management, recovery with subsidies and other measures may fundamentally solve the problem of power battery recovery, ensure that retired power cells can flow to the regular recovery body, and realize the use of steps before raw material recovery.

In addition, many companies have also seen the market prospects in this area and began to layout the power battery recycling field. A few days ago, camel shares issued an announcement that it plans to invest 5 billion yuan to build a power battery terraced utilization and regeneration industrial park, with an estimated total investment of 5 billion yuan. The project will reach the postpartum period and will be able to recycle about 300,000 tons of used power cells and the corresponding production capacity of positive materials. On the one hand, the company's addition can increase the echelon utilization rate of end-of-life power batteries, and on the other hand, it can also ensure the reuse of power battery raw materials.

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