Repurposing Batteries—Renewable Energy and Recycling, Part 2

Last month I wrote about solar panels. This month’s topic is batteries, in particular those used to power electric vehicles (EVs).

“I believe there will be a battery economy.”—Dan Schwartz

Dan Schwarz and I first met when I toured the Clean Energy Testbeds at the University of Washington in 2018. I was doing research for my first book, Material Value, and I interviewed Dan and one of his colleagues. Although energy storage is one of the Testbeds’ key research areas, most of our discussion in 2018 covered printed solar cells.

I reached out to Dan again in 2022 for an interview to include in my upcoming book, a new work based on Material Value. When I asked him what topic he wanted to discuss, he said batteries. I was eager to hear Dan’s insights.

The Transition to EVs

When I bought my first EV in 2016, I was not an early adopter. It seemed like half the houses on my street had a Nissan Leaf in the garage. The Seattle area was perhaps second to California in EV penetration, but EVs were still a tiny segment of the vehicle market and likely to remain so for years.

In 2022, EV owners are still in the minority. That is changing. According to a report from the International Council on Clean Transportation, global EV sales climbed from 1 million in 2016 to 6.9 million in 2021. A 2022 law in California bans the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. In response, vehicle manufacturers are ramping up EV production.

Overall, this is good news for the environment. I often wonder, though, what will happen to old EVs when battery performance drops. I hope that they won’t head to junkyards.

Lithium-Ion Batteries

Battery technology is improving, increasing storage capacity without adding weight. There is also a movement to transition away from cobalt in lithium-ion batteries. 

Cobalt is a conflict mineral. It comes from artisanal mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring regions. Workers, some of whom are children, dig up minerals under extremely unsafe and unregulated working conditions.

The cobalt content in lithium-ion batteries has been dropping. As Dan told me, the composition of the electrode in an NMC battery is now 80% nickel, 10% manganese, and 10% cobalt. 

The EV industry is considering switching to cobalt-free batteries. Lithium-iron phosphate batteries are one option. Iron is inexpensive and readily available.

Battery Replacement

Regardless of the battery technology, an EV battery won’t last forever. How will we keep EVs on the road for 200,000 miles or more? The answer is replacing the battery. Once the battery is replaced, it is almost like having a brand-new car. But batteries are the most expensive component of an EV. Replacing one today can cost more than the market value of the car.

Fortunately, battery prices are coming down and will continue to do so. In Dan’s vision, EV owners will replace the original battery in their car with a higher-performing, cheaper new battery. That needs to become the norm.

Reuse and Recycling

When EV owners buy a replacement battery, the old battery can be reused in a stationary application. It might provide power for someone who lives in an RV. It might sit on a ferry dock, ready to join a string of old EV batteries that charges a passenger ferry overnight. It might charge an electric bicycle.

Eventually, EV batteries will degrade to the point where they aren’t useful for anything. That is when a robust recycling infrastructure will be important. For now, those batteries need to stay in service in one form or another. (We should also be able to replace the batteries in our smartphones, but that’s a different story).

My 2016 Leaf is down to 10 out of 12 on the battery capacity gauge. It’s still great for driving around town, but I need to be more diligent about charging when I get back home.

When I told Dan about my concerns, he offered to buy my car. He lives on an island with 14 miles of roads. From his perspective, a 70-mile range is plenty. If I decide to sell it and upgrade to something with a longer driving range, I’ll let him know.