On September 4, local time, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association announced at a monthly meeting with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry that Toyota, Nissan and other Japanese automakers will jointly launch a project in October to recycle lithium decommissioned electric vehicles. Ion battery. With the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, the recycling of decommissioned power batteries has become a serious social problem. Japanese automakers who have been keen on 'bringing warmth' are no exception. They hope to cooperate together. , Establish an effective recycling system for used batteries, reduce the recovery cost of power batteries, and achieve sustainable development.
Carrying the 'cluster' to the end
It is reported that the decommissioned battery recycling project will be operated by the Japan Automobile Recycling Agency, a joint venture funded by a number of Japanese automakers, based in Tokyo. The project will initially set up factories in seven prefectures in Japan. Hokkaido, Akita, Ibaraki, Aichi, Okayama, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi, will build more battery recycling facilities in the country. In addition to automakers, the project will also import auto dealers and electric vehicles to Japan. Car startup company is open.
The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association hopes to establish a recycling model for decommissioned lithium batteries covering the entire industry. So, how does the project work? After the car disassembly site receives the used electric car, it will dismantle the decommissioned battery and then approach it. Transferred to the recycling plant mentioned above for processing. Automobile manufacturers need to pay a certain processing fee to the Japanese automotive recycling cooperative.
At present, the warranty period of electric vehicle power batteries provided by mainstream auto manufacturers on the market is generally 5-8 years. That is to say, the first batch of electric vehicles on the market has begun to enter the replacement period, and the peak period of lithium-ion battery scrapping is coming soon. Nissan first The generation of pure electric vehicles was released in 2010, and the lithium-ion battery was used in the Toyota Hybrids listed in 2011. The agency predicts that lithium-ion batteries that need to be recycled in Japan will surge in 2025. Up to 500,000 sets.
With the advent of the era of electric vehicles, the recycling and recycling of used power batteries has become an important prerequisite for the sustainable development of the automobile industry. To this end, the Japanese automobile industry has begun to take precautions and take the initiative. Recently, the Japanese automobile industry is particularly important in the development of electric vehicles. Actively, it has repeatedly combined the strength of the entire industry to develop advanced, key technologies. For example, Japan's New Energy Industry Technology Development Organization (NEDO) announced in June this year that it will spend 10 billion yen to develop solid-state batteries, including 23 complete vehicles and batteries, materials. Manufacturers, there are also 15 universities and public research institutions. In July this year, the Japanese Ministry of Industry said that Japanese car companies plan to set up a joint procurement organization to ensure the supply of cobalt, an important raw material for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
Broad prospects for secondary use
At present, there are two main recovery modes for power batteries: First, the use of ladders. The use of ladders is mildly scrapped, which can be used for secondary use in energy storage equipment and low-speed electric vehicles. Second, recycling. Re-extraction after disassembly Lithium battery raw materials, battery remanufacturing. Recently, IDTechEx market research company pointed out that after the decommissioning of electric vehicle power battery, the potential of secondary utilization is huge. In fact, when the power battery is decommissioned, its battery capacity retention rate is still as high as the initial value. 70%~ 80%. More and more companies are beginning to recycle and recycle used batteries for static energy storage equipment.
IDTechEx predicts that by 2029, the world's second-hand electric vehicle batteries can be used to manufacture 100 GWh of energy storage equipment every year. At present, countries around the world are actively conducting research on the comprehensive utilization of power batteries. Europe and the United States and Japan started earlier and have already started. Many successful commercial projects and application projects. For example, FreeWire Corporation of the United States, Bosch Group of Germany, etc. have successfully developed cascaded battery applications such as home and commercial energy storage, mobile power and grid energy storage.
In addition, battery recycling is also crucial to ensure the supply of important metal raw materials for lithium batteries. As we all know, as the sales of electric vehicles continue to rise, the price of cobalt is also rising. Recently, Bloomberg New Energy Financial Analyst said that the world The shortage of cobalt supply may be earlier than the market forecast, which may have a major impact on the development of the global electric vehicle market in the next 5-7 years. In theory, if all the consumed electronic products and electric vehicle batteries can Recycled, by 2030, only 100,000 metric tons of cobalt per year can solve the supply problem. However, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the current global battery recovery rate is 25% to 50%, power battery recycling. There is still a lot of potential to exploit the market.
Car companies have already begun to act
With the increasing number of electric vehicles on the road, lithium-ion batteries will usher in the peak of scrapping. The recycling of power batteries is vital to the battery industry, the entire electric vehicle industry, and will bring the entire environment and society. At present, multinational auto companies are struggling to reduce the cost of electric vehicles and extend the life of power batteries. It is important to know that power batteries account for more than 40% of the cost of electric vehicles, and the prices of precious metals such as cobalt and nickel are also rising. .
In fact, Japanese automakers have already begun to explore the commercialization model for the recycling of decommissioned power batteries. In March of this year, the first factory in Japan dedicated to the recycling of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles was opened. The plant was built by Nissan and Sumitomo. 4R Energy Co., a joint venture established by Commercial Co., Ltd., initiated construction and hopes to give these expensive power batteries a new life.
Since May of this year, Nissan has provided the preferential service for replacing the regenerative battery for the owner of the pure electric vehicle. Through this, it can reduce the cost of battery replacement, improve the use value of used electric vehicles, and improve electric vehicles. The user's car experience promotes the use of electric vehicles. These regenerative batteries are produced by 4R Energy after recycling the decommissioned batteries. The price is 300,000 yen, which is half the price of Nissan's new replacement battery. Reusing used electric vehicle batteries, we hope to increase the (remaining) value of electric vehicles, which is also conducive to the establishment of a complete recycling system for used batteries. '4R CEO Eiji Makino said.
In February of this year, Toyota and Central Japan Power Company reached a cooperation, the two sides will jointly develop a new large-capacity battery system, and solve the problem of recycling and recycling of used batteries. It is understood that Central Power Company and Toyota will be in FY 2018. Started to verify the battery system, and plans to introduce a battery system to provide the equivalent of 10,000 kW of power generation by 2020. The two companies hope that the implementation of the project will not only effectively solve the problem of recycling old batteries, but also hope to generate thermal power plant operations. Certainly positive influence. In addition to these Japanese automakers, Renault, BMW and BYD have also launched a number of projects and commercial initiatives aimed at giving the decommissioned power battery a second life.
