Recycling of electric vehicle batteries encouraged in China

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-06-21

An electric vehicle charging station in Shanghai, June 20, 2014. (File photo/CNS)

Amid a rosier outlook for new energy cars in China, the country's government has taken measures to encourage the recycling and reuse of batteries for electric vehicles after they are phased out following five or more years of use, Shanghai's China Business News reports.

The cost of batteries for a 300,000 yuan (US$48,000) electric car can be up to 100,000 yuan (US$16,000) or more. Generally, batteries for cars are designed to retain up to 80% of their capacity but when their capacity drops to below the 80% threshold they can no longer be used, according to the report.

Many new-energy vehicle companies offer a battery warranty on electric cars for 10 years but if certain specific conditions of use are taken into account, the average lifespan of batteries is five years, an anonymous industry expert said.

The problem is how to deal with these used-up batteries, the expert added. Generally speaking, waste electric vehicle (EV) batteries could be eventually taken back into the recycling system for material recycling or echelon reuse.

Echelon reuse refers to the reuse of various components of batteries. waste batteries, which can be disassembled into battery cells and can be reused in the form of a mono-cell.

Putting waste EV batteries into reuse would not only help with energy conservation efforts but also help reduce the cost of electric vehicles if the secondary echelon reuse of EV batteries is wide enough, said Yin Chengliang, vice president of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Automotive Engineering School.

In July 2012, the government introduced a new policy for energy conservation and developing a new energy vehicle industry which contains measures for EV battery recycling and reuse to encourage the practice among battery manufacturing and recycling companies.

Despite multiple problems arising from the recycling process, the government has deemed EV battery recycling a high priority.

It is estimated that by 2020, China's new energy vehicle output could reach 5 million and waste EV batteries could reach 120,00-170,000 tonnes. This rapid pace of development will make battery recycling of paramount importance for the government to prevent contamination to the environment. The government devised a policy on December 2014 to provide subsidies for battery recycling.