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BATTERIES
47recyclinginternational.com | September/October | 2020
that promotes recycling to locals
and offers workshops for children
and students
‘We want to set the trend of sustain-
ability for the entire automotive sec-
tor,’ Fellinger says. ‘We want to help
develop new technologies that boost
assembly, disassembly and recycling.
And to showcase what current tech-
nologies can already do. We want to
foster networking and to make ideas
about a more sustainable, cleaner
world a reality.
‘We’ve celebrated so many milestones
in the past. We can build rockets. We
have been to the moon – that was the
inspiration behind our new facility, you
know. If we can manage that, we can
do so much more. Who knows what
tomorrow brings?’
Tesla unveils diversified
caThode
Discussions about innovation in bat-
tery chemistry and composition are
not new in the world of car recycling.
Indeed, entrepreneur Elon Musk has
just announced that manganese will
comprise one-third of the next gener-
ation EV batteries for his Tesla cars.
Speaking about future trends at his
company’s ‘Battery day 2020’, he
pointed out that having a ‘diversified’
battery cathode of two-thirds nickel
and one-third manganese cathode
would allow Tesla to make 50% more
cell volume with the same amount of
nickel. This would also open up new
opportunities for medium and long-
range vehicles.
According to Musk, Tesla will source
the manganese from local suppliers to
keep costs ‘manageable’. He is cur-
rently in talks with Euro Manganese to
provide the metal from waste, mostly
from worked-out mines, rather than
mining for fresh ore.
Meanwhile, Tesla is building a so-
called ‘giga-factory’ in Germany, which
is said to be the most advanced high-
volume EV production plant in the
world. The Berlin facility will be able to
produce 500 000 units per year, start-
ing in the summer of 2021. Musk also
announced a range of lower-cost cars
to broaden the customer base.
EV sales in China in July grew for the
first time in more than a year as a
result of a government extension of
financial incentives and Tesla’s local
production capacity.
The China Association of Automobile
Manufacturers reported EV sales
jumped 26% in August year-on-year,
bringing the total to 109 000 units.
Even so, overall sales for 2020 are
expected to reach 1.1 million, down
11% on 2019 largely because of the
pandemic.
honda explores energy
sTorage sysTems
Honda is extending a European bat-
tery recycling initiative to boost the
collection of used batteries from its
hybrid and EVs and give them a sec-
ond life as stationary storage units.
‘Recent market developments may
allow us to make use of these batter-
ies in a second life application for
powering businesses or by using
recent improved recycling techniques
to recover useful raw materials which
can be used as feedstock into the pro-
duction of new batteries,’ says Tom
Gardner, senior vice president of
Honda Motor Europe.
He points out that French recycling
specialist SNAM will collect lithium-
ion and nickel metal hydride (NiMH)
batteries across Honda’s dealer net-
work and treatment facilities in 22
European countries. The project part-
ner will then assess which batteries
are suitable to be repurposed as part
of new energy storage devices for
either domestic or industrial applica-
tions. The ones that don’t meet the
quality standard will be broken down
so that valuable materials like cobalt
and lithium can be extracted.
Fotobijschrift
Porsche is
hoping to
advance car
recycling and
e-mobility at
its new facility
in Salzburg.
Elon Musk is
developing
a car battery
cathode of
two-thirds
nickel and
one-third man-
ganese.
kaderkop
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46-47_batteryrecyclingsolution.indd 47 29-09-20 08:45
