Audi and Umicore, a materials technology and recycling group, have successfully tested a closed-loop approach for recycling components of high-voltage batteries. The companies’ research has shown that 95 percent of raw materials contained in batteries – including cobalt, nickel, and copper – can be recovered and reused for new products. In a closed-loop recycling approach,… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "battery reuse"
Cummins, the diesel engine powerhouse, has had a busy year expanding its EV systems development
Cummins is a huge presence in the diesel engine market around the globe. The company designs, manufactures and sells billions of dollars’ worth of diesel engines (and some engines powered by “alternative fuels” such as natural gas). Ranging from 2.8 to 95 liters, the company’s engines are found in nearly every type of vehicle and… Read more »
Recycling worn cathodes to make new batteries
As lithium-ion batteries proliferate, the question of what to do with them when they wear out is becoming a major environmental concern. Less than five percent of used batteries are recycled today. Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed an energy-efficient recycling process that restores used cathodes from spent batteries and makes… Read more »
New report analyzes global market for recycled lithium and cobalt
In a new analysis of the global end-of-life value chain for lithium-ion batteries, consultancy Creation Inn predicts that the total amount of recycled lithium could reach 5,800 tons (30,000 tons lithium carbonate equivalent) in 2025, 9 percent of the total lithium battery supply, while the amount of cobalt from recycled batteries is expected to reach… Read more »
More Gigafactory details: world’s largest rooftop solar array
At a recent event for investors, Tesla revealed some tantalizing details about its Nevada factory, which is now producing battery cells. The company is now calling the massive manufactory Gigafactory 1 (GF1), a hint of hopes to build similar facilities in Europe and/or China. Tesla has long planned to make this a fossil fuel-free facility…. Read more »
The inevitability of electric buses
Electric transit buses enter the fast-follower market stage as the leaders work to remove the last barriers to adoption. Q&A with Proterra’s Ryan Popple and ABB’s Daan Nap on the state of the market and charging standards in North America and Europe. With each passing year, more decision makers are realizing that city buses are an… Read more »
New Union of Concerned Scientists report: EV life-cycle emissions are half that of an average gas car
Diehard fossil-fuel fans are fond of speculating that EVs may be no cleaner than legacy ICE vehicles, once the emissions resulting from power generation and manufacturing are taken into account. In fact, study after study, including reports from the Union of Concerned Scientists (2012), the University of Minnesota, and Carnegie Mellon University, has shown that,… Read more »
Nissan, GM and Toyota repurpose used EV batteries for stationary storage
Tesla may have made it trendy, but the California company is far from the only automaker exploring the commercial energy storage market, which is expected to grow from $200 million in 2012 to $19 billion in 2017, according to research firm IHS CERA. Nissan has joined forces with Green Charge Networks to deploy second-life EV… Read more »
Every inch an EV: Tesla’s Model S redefines the automobile (new book excerpt)
This article is an excerpt from Tesla Motors: How Elon Musk and Company Made Electric Cars Cool, and Sparked the Next Tech Revolution by Charged Senior Editor Charles Morris. This 270-page book is a comprehensive history of Tesla, told by the entrepreneurs who made it happen, as well as an assessment of the company’s lasting influence… Read more »
New report: Used EV batteries and California’s energy storage needs
As California searches for cheap energy storage options, a new report by the Climate Change and Business Research Initiative at the UCLA and UC Berkeley law schools suggests that used EV batteries may be the ideal solution. “Most batteries will retain much of their capacity and value after the use of the car,” said report… Read more »