Researchers at Tennessee Tech University are set to receive a $4.8-million grant from the US Department of Energy to help improve the nation’s EV battery recycling ecosystem.

The grant is part of a $45-million federal initiative supporting projects at eight businesses or institutions, including General Motors, Caterpillar and Siemens.

Tennessee Tech University’s project aims to develop a mobile preprocessing hub that can be taken to local collection sites, allowing EV owners to have batteries safely disassembled and shredded on-site. The raw materials from the batteries will then be extracted, studied and reused in battery manufacturing.

“We hear concerns in rural communities when people are considering an electric vehicle. What do we do with the battery when the vehicle is retired?” said Pingen Chen, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and project lead for the university. “Our goal is to figure out the most efficient, cost-effective and safest way to recycle these batteries at the end of their life cycles.”

Other Tech faculty joining Chen on the project include Stephen Canfield, Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Canfield’s involvement will focus on leveraging collaborative robotics to help execute the mobile preprocessing hub.

The DOE has also awarded Chen and his colleagues a separate $1-million grant to continue their work expanding EV charging availability and helping city agencies, including those in Chattanooga and Nashville, integrate more electric vehicles into their fleets.

Source: Tennessee Tech University