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We’re still in the early stages of electrifying the world’s transport systems, but the market for repurposed electric vehicle (EV) batteries is already gaining some serious traction.
The background: Nearly 57 million EVs will have been sold globally by the end of 2024, with more than half of them delivered since January 2023, according to the International Energy Agency.
All of those batteries will need to be replaced at some point, which poses a risk that many will simply be discarded even though they contain valuable critical minerals.
There’s currently not nearly enough capacity to recycle tens of millions of EV batteries a year. However, that’s starting to change.
The latest: Canada-based Moment Energy plans to start work on an EV battery repurposing ‘gigafactory’ in early 2025 after securing $20.3 million from the US Department of Energy.
The company already works with the likes of Mercedes Benz, and says EV batteries typically still have 80% of their original capacity when they’re removed from vehicles. The storage systems it produces are used for large power grids, microgrids, EV charging stations, and commercial customers.
One of Moment Energy’s recent projects, at a scuba diving resort in a remote part of Canada, reduced the property’s diesel generator usage by 66%.
The company’s new facility, in Taylor, Texas, will produce up to 1 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery storage systems a year, once fully operational, it says.
By helping develop a circular economy for batteries, the project will “strengthen America’s clean energy supply chain and reduce reliance on foreign materials.”
Meanwhile, a number of facilities are being set up to recycle — rather than repurpose — EV batteries. This approach is already profitable and capable of recovering more than 95% of the key minerals.
In Sweden, Northvolt is developing a massive battery manufacturing and recycling complex in the north of the country. The combined facility will be “a fully integrated, circular battery production setup that has not previously existed outside of Asia.”
However, Northvolt has run into financial troubles that threaten to derail its progress.
