Ultium Cells LLC, the battery manufacturing joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, has entered a new partnership with battery recycling company Li-Cycle.
Through this new partnership, GM will recycle 100 percent of the material scrap from the manufacturing of battery cells. This will include cobalt, nickel, lithium, graphite, copper, manganese and aluminum, which can be used in the production of new batteries or sold for use in adjacent industries. GM says the hydrometallurgical process in which these battery materials will be recycled “emits 30 percent less greenhouse gas than traditional processes,” helping to minimize the environmental impact of the recycling efforts.
“Our combined efforts with Ultium Cells will be instrumental in redirecting battery manufacturing scrap from landfills and returning a substantial amount of valuable battery-grade materials back into the battery supply chain,” said Li-Cycle CEO Ajay Kochhar. “This partnership is a critical step forward in advancing our proven lithium-ion resource recovery technology as a more sustainable alternative to mining.”
GM says it has recycled or reused 100 percent of the battery packs it has received from customers since 2013, including any Chevy Volt or Chevy Bolt EV battery packs that were replaced through warranty service. Additionally, most current GM EVs are repaired with refurbished battery packs, allowing the automaker to extend the life of the packs and reduce waste.
“GM’s zero-waste initiative aims to divert more than 90 percent of its manufacturing waste from landfills and incineration globally by 2025,” Ken Morris, GM’s vice president of electric and autonomous vehicles, said in a statement. “Now, we’re going to work closely with Ultium Cells and Li-Cycle to help the industry get even better use out of the materials.”
Ultium Cells LLC and Li-Cycle say they will begin the new scrap recycling process later this year. The recycling efforts will also likely ramp up once the new Ultium Cells LLC manufacturing plants open in Lordstown, Ohio and Spring Hill, Tennessee. These plants will supply batteries for several new GM EVs, including the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq and Cruise Origin.
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Comments
Good news!
This is what I have been saying and few listen.
This is not just a GM deal but nearly all MFGs are doing intensive recycling in MFG and after the batteries are return due to the value of the contents of the batteries.
MFGs are not doing this to save the planet but because there is high value in a battery new or used. Doing the reclaim will help get the cost of batteries to be lower so they can sell EV products cheaper.
Batteries were $1100 per kWh 10 years ago and now are approaching $650 per kWh. They are expected to decline in cost and increase in efficiency. We have several new technologies coming that also will lower cost and increase range.
This stuff is not all about what we have now but what is coming in 10-20 years.
Battery prices are at an average of $137/kWh now.
I see that now.
They target $100 kWh by 2023 and $50 by 2030. Keeping in mind these prices are on much more advanced batteries.
This is why automakers have changed their minds on EV. No matter the regulations or who is in office these numbers.res have changed the economics of building and buying cars in the future.
I am an ICE guy who makes his living in the automotive performance area. We have realized it is coming like a tornado and we had better be prepared. So now we are preparing by adding EV items to our future.
so this is recycling manufacturing waste. this must be low hanging fruit. i think the bigger concern was end user waste.
As long as the recycling process retains 99% of the energy, then I’m OK with this. I’d hate to think of the future as being where a Civic driver is forced to drive a dirty overused Model S battery that was recycled 5 times.
You mean the maximum of energy which can be loaded, the capacity, but not the actual amount of energy stored.
More gm BS on Ultium, Mary figures she can get another 10% rise on stock.
I wonder how much a junkyard is going to charge you to take an ev with a bad battery.
The recycling of electronics is so big today. The metals are worth going after.
This is not recycling beer cans. No gold or cobalt in them.
electronic waste is so valuable its gets dumped in 2nd and 3rd world countries to get recycled.
I think in the future of EV’s, it would be wise to build vehicles where the battery pack can be changed out in the same time it takes to fill an i.c.e. with gasoline. If the infrastructure is in place to do a quick change out of battery packs, range would not be an issue. All battery packs would be built to common specs as to physical size, voltage, connections etc.
A chain of battery exchange stations, similar to gas stations, would work like this.
The battery exchange station would have recharged battery packs “on charge” with special equipment to handle the removal and installation of the battery packs from the vehicles. As a battery is removed from one vehicle, it is connected to a charger and put in a storage area to charge. A fully recharged battery is installed into the vehicle. When the recharged battery is charged, it would be ready to exchange in the next vehicle. Each exchange station would have 15-20 battery packs on hand for exchange, until the proper amount needed is stocked according to supply and demand. This would solve the range dilemma of EV’s. These exchange stations could start out as part of the service dept. of dealerships, then expand from there.
Despite thumbs down on this, what you say makes complete sense. This suggestion is great for today, if you could get the infrastructure up and running. I think it might not be cost effective in the USA. Secondly, battery technology, when it hits the sub-one minute “fill up” (recharge) point, sometime within five years will mean that a battery swap will take substantially longer than a simple recharge. Looking ahead, this “Chinese Solution,” to the fill up problem is likely not a real good solution for most parts of the USA.
20 batteries times 50 different sizes for 50 different EVs would be problematic. Tesla dropped the idea for just a couple of different models.
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(Yicai Global) April 15 — Sinopec is linking arms with Chinese electric car startup Nio to install 5,000 battery charging and swapping depots at its service stations by 2025, China’s second largest oil and gas producer said today.
The two parties will join forces in the fields of battery charging and swapping, new materials and smart vehicles, it said.
The deal comes as Shanghai-based Nio’s first second-generation Power Swap Station was opened at a Sinopec service station in Beijing today. It is the first fully intelligent battery swapping station in the world which can change a battery in just 4 minutes and 30 seconds, three times faster than the first generation, and can perform 312 battery swaps a day.
Nio’s ‘Battery as a Service’ concept has taken a while to gain consumer acceptance. It separates ownership of the vehicle from the battery, allowing customers to buy the battery with the vehicle or, instead, to rent a battery, saving substantially on the cost of the car and doing away with lengthy charging times.
The service also overhauls Sinopec’s nationwide network of 30,000 filling stations by providing the latest infrastructure needed for non-fossil fuel guzzling vehicles. In recent years, Beijing-based Sinopec has started to turn more towards green energy with investments in photovoltaic, wind and hydrogen power.
Editor: Kim Taylor
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