Disposal of the EV batteries

I'm not sure why this isn't discussed more in forums or even in reviews or specifications for the electric vehicles it is a concern for people who want to leave a small footprint there is no business model as of yet for the disposal of all the electric vehicle batteries that have run their life

I agree if we are all looking to make a smaller footprint there has been an estimated 1 million and four electric vehicles and electric plug-in Vehicles sold to date worldwide eventually all those used batteries have to go somewhere

To be honest this is what's holding me back from purchasing an electric vehicle I need concrete evidence that reducing my footprint in one manner is not going to drastically and tragically increase my footprint in another

It is unlikely that EV batteries will not be recycled. Do we worry about whether an ICE car gets fully recycled? Aluminum engine blocks have a lot of invested energy.

Driving an EV uses so much less energy per mile. And building and recycling any car pretty much offset, so an EV will always come out ahead.

In many cases, used EV batteries will be reused in stationary applications. Nissan and BMW are already working on these markets. This is even better than immediate recycling, since it extends the batteries' lives.

Tesla is designing the gigafactory to support recycling of old batteries into new ones.

I can't believe that GM wouldn't have a plan for old Volt/Bolt batteries. They just haven't come forward with it. But I can pretty much guarantee that your used Bolt battery will not go to a landfill after 10-20 years.

Tcdn said:

it is a concern for people who want to leave a small footprint there is no business model as of yet for the disposal of all the electric vehicle batteries that have run their life

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The lifetime of the battery pack is a big consideration, but engineering is solving the problem of longevity, so the packs last for the driving distance and life of the car as per my blog article from two years ago and updated recently:
http://mysmartelectricdrive.blogspot.ca/2014/06/fortunately-world-class-engineers-are.html

sam said:

I need concrete evidence that reducing my footprint in one manner is not going to drastically and tragically increase my footprint in another

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Evidence here:
http://mysmartelectricdrive.blogspot.ca/2015/09/smart-fortwo-from-cradle-to-grave.html

In almost three years of all-EV driving, the Smart ED has required zero maintenance, and no degradation that I can detect on the battery pack. The lifetime emissions will be far lower driving it in Ontario due to the fact I pay for 100% renewable electricity.

IMO the biggest roadblock in the electric vehicle takeover is the mentality of the over consumption society

I read today that Rocco Inc based out of Lancaster Ohio will provide end-of-life management and recycling of advanced batteries in a safe and environmentally sound manner according to Todd Coy executive vice president of Kingsbursky Brothers Inc Toxco's parent company

I think there was a typo above in Aidan it's not Rocco Inc it' s Toxco Inc. The Canadian recycling facility is in Trail British Columbia it already recycles lithium ion batteries from devices like laptop computers industrial plants and Tesla Motors Inc all electric Roadster vehicle

Recycling the batteries is an interesting process they are Frozen to - 325 degrees Fahrenheit to diffuse the lithium before being sheared shredded and separated into their different parts for resale

Tcdn said:

Recycling the batteries is an interesting process they are Frozen to - 325 degrees Fahrenheit to diffuse the lithium before being sheared shredded and separated into their different parts for resale

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Link?

As per:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celsius#Temperatures_and_intervals
That is the boiling point of liquid nitrogen.
It would be massively energy intensive to cool the cells down to that temperature during recycling.

I don't believe it till I read it, could not find a google search article on this, so link would be useful.

SmartElectric said:

Tcdn said:

Recycling the batterie MNs is an interesting process they are Frozen to - 325 degrees Fahrenheit to diffuse the lithium before being sheared shredded and separated into their different parts for resale

Click to expand...

Link?

As per:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celsius#Temperatures_and_intervals
That is the boiling point of liquid nitrogen.
It would be massively energy intensive to cool the cells down to that temperature during recycling.

I don't believe it till I read it, could not find a google search article on this, so link would be useful.

Click to expand...

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lithium-ion-batteries-hybrid-electric-vehicle-recycling/. Here is the link

That article is over 7 years old, and much may have changed in the meantime.

Remember that when 'the battery' in a BEV 'is dead', it is often only one 'unit' that is bad. Others will be marginal, and some will be close to 'like new'. I remember reading somewhere about 6 months ago about a company (?partially?) owned by Nissan that will be taking old/depleted batteries from BEVs and using them to build household 'battery backups' for off-grid houses with solar power (or just to avoid that awkward power outage). A 10 kWh battery should be more than enough to power a house overnight (unless it has an electric water heater or electric heating).

EV batteries can be used for home and/or grid batteries - and then once they don't work for even that - they will be recycled.

This are the most decent conversational posts I have come across in regards to concerns about the recycling of the battery. I have read so many times very aggressive responses to individuals concerned about this. One side being a blind statement of EV is the way to environmental sterwardship with no back up of facts. It was refreshing for me to read everyones thoughts and thought about comments in regards to the big picture and concerns around this