The issue of 120,000 tons of scrapped power batteries in 2020 remains unresolved, with 4S dealerships handling the recycling themselves.
The lack of technology for recycling and utilizing power batteries may result in 120,000 tons of scrapped batteries in 2020.
Recently, a conference was held to promote the national standards for "Specifications for Dismantling and Recycling of Vehicle Power Batteries" (hereinafter referred to as "Dismantling Specifications") and "Residual Energy Testing for Recycling of Vehicle Power Batteries" (hereinafter referred to as "Residual Energy Testing"). With the advancement of this promotion, the issue of power battery recycling is expected to be partially resolved.
Since 2013, my country's new energy vehicle industry has entered a period of rapid development. According to estimates, the peak of battery scrapping will be reached by 2020, with a cumulative scrapping volume of 120,000 to 170,000 tons. However, at present, there is a severe lack of models, technologies and regulations in the field of power battery recycling and reuse.
A salesperson at a Beijing-based 4S dealership that primarily sells new energy vehicles told the Daily Economic News that manufacturers currently do not have any policies regarding battery recycling, so scrapped batteries are generally disposed of by the 4S dealership itself.
Not only are there problems with the recycling channels, but the technology for reusing power batteries is also immature, and the processes are too complex and costly, which also poses a great obstacle to the recycling of power batteries.
An industry insider stated that if relevant preparations are not made now, the peak of power battery scrapping in the future will cause serious environmental problems.
The entity responsible for recycling has been identified and is subject to mandatory enforcement.
According to the plan, the "Dismantling Standard" will be officially implemented on December 1 this year, and the "Residual Energy Detection" is also expected to be officially released and implemented next year. This will bring some improvement to the power battery recycling market, which currently lacks standardized regulations.
"Currently, the battery recycling market is quite chaotic," Wang Xiaojian from the Technology Management Department of SAIC Motor Corporation Limited told reporters. He added that the country currently has no mandatory requirement for the recycling of scrapped power batteries, and OEMs, battery manufacturers, and dismantling plants have not yet found a suitable operating model.
An insider at CATL told reporters that the current lifespan of power batteries is 7-8 years. Reporters visited new energy vehicle dealerships in Beijing and learned that the warranty period for power batteries used in new energy vehicles is generally 8 years; after 8 years, consumers need to pay for battery replacement themselves.
In fact, at the beginning of last year, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments jointly issued the "Technical Policy for the Recycling and Utilization of Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles (2015 Edition)," which clearly implemented the extended producer responsibility system. Electric vehicle manufacturers, power battery manufacturers and cascade battery manufacturers should each bear the main responsibility for the recycling and utilization of the power batteries they produce and use. Scrap car recycling and dismantling companies should be responsible for recycling the power batteries from scrapped cars.
According to this regulation, in theory, OEMs should be responsible for collecting end-of-life batteries from 4S stores, while end-of-life batteries removed from scrapped vehicles should be reused by battery manufacturers and other companies, and finally disposed of by scrap yards. However, the aforementioned CATL insider told the Daily Economic News reporter that this regulation only clarifies the responsible parties and does not require mandatory enforcement. Therefore, currently, the recycling of power batteries is not being carried out in accordance with the above requirements.
An insider at BYD confirmed this to reporters. They stated that because current regulations do not mandate battery recycling, automakers like BYD that are involved in the battery business recycle their batteries, while most new energy vehicle companies that are not involved in the battery business do not have clear requirements for recycling.
Batteries are diverse and have high reuse costs.
Not only is recycling difficult, but the disposal of recycled batteries also faces numerous problems. According to the plan, end-of-life batteries dismantled from automobiles should be reused in a tiered manner. However, the aforementioned CATL insider told reporters that due to the lack of economies of scale, battery dismantling and reuse is currently operating at a loss.
A research report by the China EV100 shows that a company that uses mechanical and wet methods to recycle waste lithium iron phosphate batteries spends 8,540 yuan to recycle one ton of waste lithium iron phosphate power batteries, while the revenue from recycled materials is only 8,110 yuan, resulting in a loss of 430 yuan.
Wang Xiaojian told reporters that in addition to cost, the complexity of the process is another challenge for the recycling and reuse of power batteries.
It is understood that there are currently a wide variety of power batteries on the market. Different types of batteries have different manufacturing and design, different series and parallel connection forms, different service and usage times, and different application models and usage conditions. The diversity of battery types makes the recycling and reuse process extremely complex.
Due to various problems, the recycling and reuse of power batteries in my country is currently in the exploratory stage, which has led to some power batteries being discarded instead of being recycled.
It is understood that although most power batteries are currently lithium batteries, improper disposal will still pollute the environment. Wang Xiaojian stated that the organic matter in power batteries is toxic and highly carcinogenic, and improper disposal will have serious consequences.
my country's new energy vehicle sales entered a period of rapid growth after 2013. Currently, most power batteries on the market have not yet reached their end-of-life period, but it can be estimated that by 2020, the problem of power battery obsolescence will gradually emerge.
A research report by the China EV100 indicates that by around 2020, the cumulative amount of scrapped power batteries in my country will reach 120,000 to 170,000 tons. Therefore, accelerating the development of regulations and technologies before this peak is reached is crucial for the healthy development of new energy vehicles in the future.
