Cars: EDV batteries present big recycling opportunity

Global – Last year, around 276 000 electric-drive vehicle (EDV) batteries left the market in North America alone, according to a new report from CEC Publications. And the market for these vehicles is expected to experience ‘€˜significant and rapid growth’€™ over the coming decades.

An estimated 1.5 million e-car batteries are expected to reach their end-of-life stage by 2030. By then, half of the EDV batteries will be lithium-based with the remainder being the nickel metal hydride variety’

This prediction is based on the ‘strong’ trend towards e-mobility: in 2013, EDVs represented roughly 4% of annual vehicle sales in the USA, 1.44% in Canada and around 0.09% in Mexico.

By 2020, the total number of EDV batteries reaching their end-of-life phase will increase to 358 000 while, by 2025, a projected 849 000 batteries will leave the market – mostly units introduced around 2011. These will present a ‘vital opportunity’ to recapture and recycle materials like nickel, cobalt and steel, the report argues.