Renewable energy can never be ‘truly green’ until it recycles its materials endlessly. Lead acid batteries, while not green do have an enviable 95% rate of recycling. This is largely thanks to battery suppliers acting as collection points. Now Volkswagen AG has decided to follow suit by setting an example itself, according to Auto News.
Volkswagen AG Makes a Plan with Used EV Batteries
Volkswagen Group has plans in place to launch a recycling point in Salzgitter about 30 miles from Wolfsburg in Germany. This factory will process 3,000 EV batteries a year, beginning in 2020.
Cellphone Lithium Battery Recycling Machine in China
First, technicians will analyze and sort batteries. Those with some charge left will inherit second lives as mobile vehicle charging stations. This technology is similar to charging a phone with a power pack. Volkswagen AG will first shred the rest of the batteries, and then grind them down to powder. This is because a powdery state is suitable for recovering cobalt, lithium, manganese and nickel for use in new batteries.
Volkswagen Group will Recycle 97% EV Batteries Within Ten Years
We may have to pull up our lead-acid battery socks, so to speak if Volkswagen AG achieves its recycling goal. Because they plan to re-purpose 97% of future battery packs in their EV vehicles within the next 10 years.
“We already have sustainable battery expertise in the Group and are developing this further.” So says Thomas Tiedje, Volkswagen’s head of technical planning and we have no reason to doubt his word. Volkswagen Group plans to export this technology to the United States, when it starts selling the Audi E-tron in 2020.
This approach should harmonize nicely with the U.S. Department of Energy’s three-year, $15 million effort to industrialize the recycling of lithium ion EV batteries. The ReCell center at Argonne will be coordinating efforts by automakers, battery companies, and material suppliers.
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National Lithium Recycling Project Launched
Preview Image: Audi E-tron Destined for U.S. in 2020
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