Reprocessing Retired EV Batteries for Secondary Use

随着电动汽车在道路上的快速增长，电动汽车电池的总量将逐年呈指数级增长。根据IDTechEx的报告，2020年全球有14 GWh的退役电动汽车电池，预计到2030年将达到300 GWh，到2040年将达到1100 GWh。电动汽车电池通常由于容量和功率下降而退役，无法满足电动汽车的范围要求，但是，仍然保留70-80%的初始容量，并且可以重复使用。目前处理退役电动汽车电池的方法包括再利用、回收和处置。与回收和处置相比，再利用具有明显的优势，如经济地进行，具有更好的经济效益和环境效益。将退役电动汽车电池再处理用于二次利用涉及电动汽车电池容量测试和电动汽车电池组拆卸：两者都具有技术挑战性。* EV电池容量测试涉及电池的充电和放电，并且耗时耗力，因此对于大规模工业生产来说在商业上不可行。由于EV电池设计、可变螺栓、柔性部件、焊接和所使用的胶的种类繁多，全自动拆卸过程实现起来将非常复杂并且非常昂贵，并且在商业上不可行，特别是当每种类型的退役EV电池的体积很小时。目前，报废电动汽车电池拆解主要采用人工操作，效率低下，不具备大规模工业化生产的商业可行性。该项目将开发一种创新的报废电动汽车电池再处理技术，包括快速电池容量测试和半自动拆解工艺技术，以降低运营成本和提高生产效率。该项目旨在延长电动汽车电池的使用寿命，延迟回收，减少报废电动汽车电池的数量，作为循环经济的一部分，该项目支持英国对汽车市场供应链和相关能力的长期增长愿望，并在项目结束时，我们希望为英国电动汽车行业建立一个具有竞争力和可持续发展的供应链和价值链。

With the rapid growth of EVs on roads, the total amount of EV batteries reaching end-of-life will is growing exponentially year after year. Globally in 2020 there were 14GWh of retired EV batteries pa, and figure is expected to reach 300GWh pa by 2030 and 1100GWh pa by 2040, according to the IDTechEx report.EV batteries are generally retired due to faded capacity and power that fail to meet the EV range requirement, however, but which still retain 70-80% of their initial capacity and which can be reused. Current methods for processing retired EV batteries include reuse, recycling and disposal. Compared with recycling and disposal, reuse has obvious advantages, e.g. better economic and environmental benefits, if done economically.Reprocessing retired EV batteries for secondary use involves EV battery capacity testing and disassembling EV battery packs: both are technically challenging.* EV battery capacity testing involves charging and discharging the battery and is time and energy consuming, hence is not commercially viable for large scale industrial production.* Due to the wide variety of EV battery designs, variable bolts, flexible components, welds and glues used, a full automatic disassembly process would be very complex to realise and very expensive, and not commercially viable, particularly when the volume of each type retired EV battery is small. Currently, retired EV battery disassembly is largely manually operated and inefficient, and hence is not commercially viable for large scale industrial production.The project will develop an innovative technology for reprocessing retired EV batteries for secondary use, including fast battery capacity testing and semi-automatic disassembly process technologies, to reduce operational costs and improve production efficiency.The project aims to extend the lifespan of EV batteries, delay recycling, reduce the volume of retired EV batteries s, and enable large-scale reuse of retired EV batteries, as part of a circular economy.The project supports the UK's long-term growth aspirations for the supply chain and associated capabilities of the automotive market, and at the end of the project, we expect to establish a competitive and sustainable supply chain and value chain for the UK electric vehicle industry.