With carmakers committed to sustainability targets for incoming decades, they are finding second life use cases for discarded cars and their components.
Recently, Hyundai has found a new way to give a second life to preproduction prototypes. Rather than conventionally crushing them or using them for accident testing, it’s released a video showcasing a “rebirth” of various Ioniq 5 car components to create an air purifier. Hyundai originally built the test car for noise, vibration, and harshness tests.
The air purifier’s functionality comes from the original car cabin air filter and cooling fan. A 50 cm alloy wheel tops the air purifier case, with its side panels made from bits of the car’s doors and hood.
The casing is decorated with theIoniq 5’semblem pixelated LED taillamps and the digital instrument cluster readout.
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This particular upcycling is admittedly more about marketing than creating functional retail or mass-market products. But it’s part of a more significant trend ofcircular design, which considers the lifespan of product design beyond its original purpose. This is particularly big when it comes to repurposing EV batteries.
Second life batteries are big business
Lithium-ion batteriesgenerally last about 10 -15 years in powering an electric vehicle. However, they have a residual capacity of more than 80 percent beyond their vehicle functionality.
As a result, they are being increasingly used for stationary electricity storage systems, where they are cheaper than new cells and can live for a further 10 years.
Further, the carbon emissions generated when the batteries were produced are spread sustainably across two service lives — one in the car and one in the storage system.
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In Germany,a joint energy transition projectbetween RWE and Audi is using 60 decommissioned lithium-ion batteries to provide temporary storage for about 4.5-megawatt-hours of electricity at the site of the RWE pumped-storage power plant in Herdecke, North Rhine-Westphalia.
In Japan, rail operators are replacing batteries in emergency power supplies at railroad crossings withused batteries from Nissan Leafs.
Even better, unlike lead-acid batteries, these repurposedlithium-ion batteriescome with a control system attached, making it possible to check the battery’s status remotely. This facilitates predictive maintenance, informing rail staff of the battery’s status before its voltage becomes too low.
A second life limited by poor uniformity
McKinsey and Co predictthat the second life battery supply for stationary applications could exceed 200 gigawatt-hours per year by 2030. However, they highlight several barriers to this, including:
An opportunity for new business models
McKinsey also suggests that the trend of car buyers owning EV batteries may shift due to their residual value in second life applications. This may result in a model of EV battery leasing which enables the auto or battery maker to maintain ownership of the battery’s second revenue stream.
It’s a model we’ve already seen inAtherandBouncescooters in India. In Germany,Swobbeehas created an alternative business model, facilitating battery sharing for escooters and ebikes. It will be interesting to see what kinds of solutions evolve for EV auto batteries.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin. She focuses on all things mobility: ebikes, autonomous vehicles, VTOL, smart ci(show all)Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin. She focuses on all things mobility: ebikes, autonomous vehicles, VTOL, smart cities, and the future of alternative energy sources like electric batteries, solar, and hydrogen.
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