A system dynamics model for end-of-life management of electric vehicle batteries in the US: Comparing the cost, carbon, and material requirements of remanufacturing and recycling

Abstract

End-of-life (EOL) electric vehicle (EV) batteries can be remanufactured into second-life batteries (SLBs) for residential and utility-level stationary storage applications. However, it is important from a sustainability perspective to assess that there is no increase in material requirement, cost, or carbon footprint of lithium-ion batteries by adding a remanufacturing stage before recycling. A system dynamics model is developed to evaluate the changing EOL battery availability, the change in virgin raw material demand, net present economic value, and carbon footprint of EV batteries with the added remanufacturing stage in the US from 2020 to 2050 depending on the battery state-of-health and battery chemistry over time. We find that compared to recycling, remanufacturing can reduce the life-cycle carbon footprint of the EV battery by 2–17%, by reducing the virgin raw material mined for new batteries. Extended abstractEnd-of-life (EOL) electric vehicle (EV) batteries can either be recycled or remanufactured into second-life batteries (SLBs) for residential and utility-level stationary storage applications. There is a lot of research and policy efforts to support SLB for storage application based on the assumption that using the remaining battery capacity after the in-vehicle use will be environmentally beneficial. However, remanufacturing could negatively impact new EV battery manufacturing by reducing recycled material availability, thereby increasing mining. It is important from a sustainability perspective to ensure that there is no increase in material requirement, cost, or carbon footprint of lithium-ion batteries by adding a remanufacturing stage before recycling. A system dynamics model is developed to evaluate the changing EOL battery availability, the change in virgin raw material demand, net present economic value, and carbon footprint of EV batteries with the added remanufacturing stage in the US from 2020 to 2050 depending on the battery state-of-health and battery chemistry over time. We find that compared to recycling, remanufacturing can reduce the life-cycle carbon footprint of the EV battery by 2–17%, by reducing the virgin raw material mined for new batteries. However, as new battery prices decrease in the long term, the net present economic value of remanufacturing decreases, reducing the overall EOL economic value of the recycling with added remanufacturing stage. This reduction can be compensated for by providing subsidies and incentives for SLBs, which can increase profit.