An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs include battery electric vehicles (BEV) that use energy exclusively from an on-board battery. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), where electric motors can be used as the predominant propulsion rather than a supplement and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), where electric motors are used as a supplementary propulsion to internal combustion engines.
Most electric vehicles use lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries that are designed for high power-to-weight ratio and energy density. Li-NMC batteries using lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides are the most common in EV. The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery is on the rise and although they are heavier but cheaper and more sustainable.
The battery makes up a significant portion of the cost and environmental impact of an electric vehicle. Disposal of spent Li-ion batteries without recycling could be detrimental to the environment. Recycling Li-ion batteries reduces energy consumption, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and results in 51.3% natural resource savings when compared to discarding them in landfills. Recycling can potentially lower the overall energy emissions of battery production as the Li-ion batteries recycling industry grows larger. When not recycled, the disposal of cobalt extraction involves non-sulfidic tailings, which has an impact on land use.
Recyclability is not currently an important design consideration for battery manufacturers, and in 2019 only 5% of electric vehicle batteries were recycled. However, closing the loop is extremely important because of a predicted tightened supply of metals like nickel, cobalt and lithium in the future. There’s prediction that in the sustainable development scenario, lithium, cobalt and nickel will reach or surpass the amount of known reserves in the future if no recycling is in place.
