Tesla to Recycle Lithium Ion Battery Packs in Europe
Tesla, one of the major leaders in the EV movement, has recently announced that they will be teaming with Brussels-based Umicore to create a much needed lithium ion battery recycling program throughout Europe.
Tesla says the batteries in their EVs should last somewhere between 7-10 years or about 160,000 kilometers under normal use. Those are very solid numbers as far as hybrid and all-electric vehicles are concerned. But what happens when the battery has run its course? This new venture between Tesla and Umicore aims to answer that question.
“While we work to help lessen global dependence on petroleum-based transportation and drive down the cost of electric vehicles, we are also taking the lead in developing a closed loop battery recycling system,” said Tesla’s Director of Energy Storage Systems Kurt Kelty.
Tesla says the battery recycling technology saves “a minimum of 70 percent on CO2 emissions at the recovery and refining of these valuable metals.” With the worldwide movement toward the use of battery-powered vehicles growing rapidly, battery recycling programs such as this will be a very crucial part of ensuring that hybrids and EVs truly remain eco-friendly.
Category: Battery News
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I have no doubt that recycling of EV-Batteries will be very popular, even forced by law in the future. It’s the same with lead batteries, with over 98% of recycling quota in europe.
Due to the fact that lithium is rare, the need for an appropriate infrastructure is obvious. It´s good that there are already efforts to get it started, the earlier the better in order to prevent another addiction.
A recycling infrastructure for lithium is vital for electric mobility. Today I had a meeting with guys from BMW and they said that recycling is way too expensive today, even the subtraction out of the sea would be more economic. Yet, I´m sure this will change as soon as the first mass EV hit the market!
I hope that other countries follow the lead of Europe soon.