http://www.scrapmonster.com/news/for-dead-ev-batteries-reuse-comes-before-recycle/1/66509 For Dead EV Batteries, Reuse Comes Before Recycle December 08, 2017 Contributor,Courtesy: https://wasteadvantagemag.com
The junkyards of America became stacked with crushed cars over the last century, the big cylinder blocks of once-vaunted engines rusting away along with fenders and frames. For Dead EV Batteries, Reuse Comes Before Recycle SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Electric vehicles make up less than 1 percent of current US auto sales, but their numbers are growing, with one projection putting them at 54 percent by 2040. The number of battery packs for these vehicles will also increase, and that presents a waste problem. Beyond a rising tide of pure electric cars, the increasing number of hybrid and plug-in hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles will contribute to this problem. What happens when a hybrid or electric car’s battery pack gets damaged in an accident, wears out or just stops working? The value of these batteries, potential reuse and danger to the environment if they are merely discarded is causing automakers to adopt new strategies to deal with old parts. And in conjunction with this need, there’s an opportunity for e-waste recyclers to step in. The junkyards of America became stacked with crushed cars over the last century, the big cylinder blocks of once-vaunted engines rusting away along with fenders and frames. With electric cars, however, the idea of leaving a lithium-ion battery pack in a junkyard car looks foolish from a financial standpoint, as a Bloomberg report (PDF) notes that these batteries cost $273 per kilowatt-hour in 2016. For a car with a 30 kilowatt-hour battery pack, junking it would mean an $8,190 component rotting away. Tesla’s current model lineup uses battery packs of 75 and 100 kilowatt-hours, accounting for a big chunk of each car’s individual price tag. Although Tesla didn’t respond to a query about its battery disposal strategy in time for publication, the company published a blog in 2011 outlining its process. The blog notes that the automotive industry already has a profitable system in place for recycling the lead-acid batteries used in gasoline engine cars, with a 90 percent intake rate. The blog mentions reusing components from the battery packs, and recycling the rest. Tesla may be finding even more profit in recycling, as earlier this year, a company called Redwood Materials emerged with apparent ties to the company. This Redwood City, California-based company, not too far from Tesla’s own headquarters in Palo Alto, seems focused on recycling modern commercial waste, as a form on its site covers everything from lithium-ion batteries to compost. Nissan put the Leaf electric car on the road in 2010, and has sold over 100,000 units in the US through 2016. A new version of the Nissan Leaf comes out next year, which will likely lead to a boost in sales. To deal with the accumulation of battery packs either replaced at dealer service departments or pulled from crashed Leafs, Nissan sends some out to a recycler. However, Nissan subsidiary 4REnergy also figures out how to reuse the batteries. Nissan spokesman Josh Clifton said, “Reuse opportunities range from very small kilowatt-hour applications involving portable energy supplies to very large megawatt-hour stationary energy storage for commercial and utility.” [© 2017 ScrapMonster] For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/archive/ {brucedp.neocities.org} -- Sent from: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/ _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
