Reprocessing Retired EV Batteries for Secondary Use

随着电动汽车在道路上的快速增长，即将报废的电动汽车电池总量逐年呈指数级增长。根据IDTechEx的报告，2020年全球有14GWh的退役电动汽车电池pa，预计到2030年这一数字将达到300GWh pa，到2040年将达到1100GWh pa。然而，电动汽车电池通常由于容量和功率的衰减而退役，无法满足电动汽车续航里程的要求，但它们仍然保留了初始容量的70%-80%，可以重复使用。目前处理退役电动汽车电池的方法包括重复使用、回收和处置。与回收和处置相比，再利用具有明显的优势，例如，如果以经济的方式进行回收和处置，则具有更好的经济效益和环境效益。回收报废的电动汽车电池以供二次使用涉及电动汽车电池容量测试和拆卸电动汽车电池组：两者在技术上都是具有挑战性的。*电动汽车电池容量测试涉及电池的充放电和耗费时间和能源，因此不适合大规模工业生产。*由于使用的电动汽车电池设计多种多样，所使用的可变螺栓、柔性部件、焊接和胶水，全自动拆卸过程将非常复杂和昂贵，而且在商业上不可行，特别是当每种类型的退役电动汽车电池的体积很小时。目前，退役电动汽车电池的拆解主要是人工操作的，效率低下，因此不适合大规模工业生产。该项目将开发一种创新的技术，将退役电动汽车电池再处理用于二次使用，包括快速电池容量测试和半自动拆卸工艺技术，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，推迟回收，减少退役电动汽车电池的体积，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。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.