LI-ION BATTERIES REDUX

Reuse and Recycling of Electric Vehicle Batteries will Ensure the Completion of ‘Green Car’ Tag; Analysis from Frost & Sullivan finds that EV battery recycling will become a significant part of the value chain by 2016, when significant quantities of EV batteries will come through the waste stream for recycling.
February 24, 2011 (PRLog)

"…[T]here is little economic sense to recycle lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries…[because they] contain only a small fraction of lithium carbonate as a percent of weight and are inexpensive compared to cobalt or nickel…[but] if the number of electric vehicles (EVs) and their associated battery packs increase in the long term, recycling and reuse will help validate the tag, ‘green car’. Reuse and recycling ensure that the energy source of EVs are in a closed loop and complete a full lifecycle.

"…[New analysis] finds that EV battery recycling will become a significant part of the value chain by 2016, when significant quantities of EV batteries will come through the waste stream for recycling. The EV Li-ion battery recycling market is expected to be worth more than $2 billion by 2022, with more than half a million end-of-life EVs’ battery packs becoming available for recycling through the waste stream…"

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"For second life, Li-ion batteries will have to compete with dedicated batteries used for current second-life applications such as stationary grid storage. They will have to compete in terms of cost, power and energy storage, as most of the characteristics of Li-ion batteries with regard to their degradation at reuse are still uncertain…"

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"Though lithium is 100 per cent recyclable, the battery-grade lithium from the recycling process is costlier than lithium from direct sources. Lack of price incentives…[restrictions on] lithium recycling…[and] limited incentives for utilities using energy storage…[hinder] reuse activities…The lack of valuable materials in batteries [also] often limits the potential for recycling.

"The advent of Li-ion batteries is expected to spur automotive and utility industries to sell a common fuel electricity to consumers. Furthermore, with second life applications, Li-ion batteries are poised to contribute to further net reductions in emissions…beyond those achieved by using an EV…"