How Car Batteries are Made-Introduction and Disposal

Car batteries store energy in chemical form to facilitate ignition and provide power for other devices. In electric vehicles, car batteries store power that is used to move the vehicle. An electric car battery is designed differently compared to petrol or diesel-powered cars. Conversely, hybrid cars use both electric and lead-acid batteries. Sometimes a vehicle may have different types of batteries for different functions. For instance, some cars have small batteries only dedicated to ignition. In this article, we will look at how car batteries are made and how they can be safely disposed of. 

How lithium car batteries are made?

Lithium batteries are common in electric and hybrid cars. As their name suggests, they are made of  Lithium as the main component. This is the same material used to create batteries for electric devices such as phones, tablets, and laptops. 

Just like phones, lithium electric car batteries are first charged us AC power. The batteries store the power in their cells before its used to power the car. The distance from which an electric car can last without depleting the battery is calculated in range. 

Thanks to technology, electric car companies have managed to create long-range batteries. For instance, the longest electric car range record is currently held by the Mercedes EQS at 485 miles. This translates to about 780 Kilometres. This technology has disrupted the car market by pushing up electric car sales. 

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As the world embraces cars, researchers are worried about the deposits of Lithium. 50% of all Lithium used in electric cars and phones is mined from the DRC and Chile

Electric cars are made of a combination of different metals. The most common are the base metals such as Copper, Graphite, Manganese, and Nickel. Lithium batteries are the most common types used in electric cars because they can be charged and discharged fully without loss. 

An average EV battery consists of 77lbs of nickel, 30lbs cobalt, 17lbs of lithium carbonate, and 44 lbs of manganese. Lithium is the most expensive and in-demand metal for making EV batteries. It requires a sophisticated process to discover its deposits on earth. Besides, its extraction requires a lot of water. For example, extracting one tonne of Lithium takes approximately half a million gallons of water. 

It's designed to work in a mechanism where Li-ions move from the negative electrode to the positively charged electrode to produce current. 

What type of battery is a car battery?

Lead acid is the most common type of battery used in cars. This is because it has a long life and it's inexpensive. However, it's important to note lead acid batteries require high maintenance, have moderate efficiency, and have low energy density.

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Car batteries are also known as SLI because they perform three major functions. These functions include starting, lighting, and ignition. These types of batteries are designed to deliver a huge amount of power for a short period. This is because starting a vehicle engine utilizes only about 3% of the battery. 

When the vehicle's current demand is more than its charging, the battery is responsible for providing the deficit. In addition, it stabilizes the current in case of an abnormal spike. The alternator is the main power supply when the car is up and running. It usually provides a total output of 13.5 to 14.5

A typical lead acid battery is made up of 6 cells that are connected in series to provide a total output of 12 volts. For bigger automobiles, such as trucks and buses, they use lead acid batteries with 12 cells that provide a total output of 24 volts. Depending on the size of the vehicle, some may use two or more batteries connected to provide more output.

Hybrid and electric cars also have automotive batteries besides high-voltage electric batteries. It helps power accessories in vehicles that mostly require 12V. The automotive batteries found in electric vehicles are usually referred to as auxiliary batteries. The auxiliary battery is charged in electric vehicles using a DC to a DC converter rather than the alternator, like in gas-powered cars. The DC converter steps down the charge to around 14 V, which is the required float charge voltage. 

How are electric car batteries disposed of?

The demand for electric cars is rising day by day. This has left so many wondering what will happen to the old batteries. Policymakers, car owners, and environmentalists are the most concerned about the ideal way of disposing of electric batteries. 

These batteries are different from the ones used in gasoline cars. Therefore the process of disposal is different. If not well disposed of, lithium batteries can become very harmful not only to the people but the environment. Lithium can contaminate the air as well as harm the soil.

Electric battery materials are very dangerous since they can explode, especially when exposed to high heat. Lithium is a non-renewable material that plays a big role when it comes to renewable energy. 

The good news is that lithium batteries can be recycled. A handful of companies across the world have created recycling plants to recycle the components hence helping in disposing of the batteries the right way. Some companies sort the batteries and send them to recycling plans either to be repurposed or recycled. 

If an electric car battery is not physically damaged, for example, in a car accident, then it can be repurposed and reused before being recycled. They can operate at 80% of the original capacity if well repurposed. This means that if the battery had a range of 400 miles, then when repurposed, it should have approximately 320 miles of range.

The batteries are broken down into individual components in order to make the best use of the 80% capacity. All the best parts are reused for refurbishment or repurposed for less demanding applications. 

Apart from Lithium, several metals are found in an electric car battery. However, cobalt and Lithium are the most valuable as they are rare metals. Although electric cars are supposed to be environmentally friendly, there is a big question by human rights and environmental groups on how they are obtained. Most are mined by minors in developing nations and contribute to carbon emissions contaminating water sources. Recycling the batteries is one way of minimizing such effects.