Translated from Susanova.be
Written by Tom Wolfs
The demand for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles will increase sharply in the coming years. This poses a problem for us in the West. Because many raw materials needed to manufacture the batteries are unavailable here, the ones we do have are tough to mine. The European Commission, therefore, wants us to reuse and recycle used batteries.
"Exactly in that order," says Grietus Mulder of VITO/EnergyVille. The researcher specialising in battery and energy storage is the project manager of the European CIRCUSOL project, which, among other things, investigates how to overcome the challenges involved in reuse.
"Reusing batteries is the priority: we need to keep them in the circuit for as long as possible. Only then does it pay to engage in recycling, Europe believes. Provided the batteries are recycled into higher-value applications than today (see paragraph "What about recycling?", ed.). Thanks to both principles, we become less dependent on foreign critical materials, such as cobalt."
Used up, but not quite
Lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles are ideally suited to be given a second life. Serge Peeters of VITO/EnergyVille explains why. Like Mulder, he is closely involved in the CIRCUSOL project. "Usually the batteries of an electric car are already written off when they still have 70-80 per cent of their original capacity. From then on, the driver is usually no longer satisfied with the driving range or the car no longer meets the performance standards set by the manufacturer in its warranty conditions."
"This means that 'used-up' lithium-ion batteries can still be used in numerous applications. In industry, for example, you can use them to store solar energy. You then mount the entire battery directly in a large container and connect it to solar panels. For smaller energy storage systems, it is different: the battery must then first be dismantled down to module or cell level. By the way, reuse is not limited to the batteries of electric cars. The batteries of e-bikes, among others, can also be given a second life."
What about the application as a home battery, to store electricity from your solar panels? "That is not what lithium-ion batteries from electric cars are currently suitable for," says Peeters. "Car batteries are subject to different safety standards than residential batteries. A car battery must give occupants five minutes to leave the car in case of a breakdown. After that, the ISO standard basically allows it to burn out. You understand that is different for a home battery."
"I expect recycling lithium-ion batteries to be a very common practice within five years."
Serge Peeters, VITO/EnergyVille
Car brands do not reveal their secrets
Although rechargeable batteries can technically be reused, there are still some hurdles to overcome before the principle is widely applicable. "Firstly, reuse is not allowed by law today," says Mulder. "That is why there will be new European rules that will apply to all batteries entering the market in Europe. The European Parliament has already approved those rules. Only the member states still need to give the green light."
"A second challenge is the need for battery standardisation. Now each manufacturer builds its batteries in a different way, making them very different from brand to brand and even from model to model within brands. This makes it difficult to read the car's 'battery management system' or BMS: the 'brain' of the battery, so to speak, that makes sure it functions optimally. For now, that system is still proprietary and closed to each manufacturer. So the data needed to determine the quality of the battery is not readily available."
A third hurdle is the test procedures that test whether a reused battery meets the same high standards as a new one. "Those procedures allow you to measure the remaining capacity of a battery in a uniform way, even if the BMS won't tell you anything. The simplest procedure is to fully charge and discharge the battery. Only: that takes a long time and consumes a lot of electricity. With CIRCUSOL, we have therefore developed an alternative technique and approach. European working groups are currently being set up for standardisation. Interested parties can contact me."
"Reuse is an emerging technology. Numerous entrepreneurs are working on it, despite all the obstacles."
Grietus Mulder, VITO/EnergyVille
From curiosity to obligation
Asked how long it will be before lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles are massively reused in other applications in Europe, both experts respond optimistically. "That won't take long," says Peeters. "I expect reuse to be a very common practice within five years. From the business world, there is very strong interest."
"It is an emerging technique," Mulder confirms. "Numerous people with entrepreneurial spirit are already putting their shoulders to the wheel, despite all the obstacles. I think you can compare it to electric cars themselves. First, they were a curiosity, today you see more and more of them driving around and soon they will be compulsory!"
What about recycling?
For the European Commission, recycling of lithium-ion batteries only comes into the picture when the possibilities for reuse are exhausted. "A lot of recycling happens today towards low-value applications," explains Grietus Mulder of VITO/EnergyVille. "Some of the recycled battery materials, for example, are used as aggregate in cement production. This could be better according to Europe. It wants materials such as recycled cobalt and lithium to be used for new batteries. The European Commission is imposing requirements for that."
One obstacle standing in the way of high-quality recycling is the risk of fire and electrocution during the dismantling of battery packs. With some brands, there are only a few millimetres of space to cut open a pack without hitting the battery cells. A second obstacle is technical. "In particular, recovering lithium from batteries is very difficult. Although there is a company in Belgium, Umicore, which is making great strides in that area."
Recovery of discarded bicycle batteries
The battery of your electric bike can also find a new breath after a first life under your luggage rack or in your bike frame. As a block battery for signalling at roadworks, for example. As a portable yard battery. Or as a mobile battery unit, mounted in a cargo bike and deployable at events.
All three of these applications are in full swing in battery projects supported last year by environmental organisation Bebat, the Public Waste Agency of Flanders and Environment Brussels. They received €20,000 to €90,000 in funding to bring the circular economy another step closer.
