Growing Deployment of EVs Driving Demand for Second-Life Automotive Lithium-Ion Batteries

In recent years, the popularity of second-life automotive lithium-ion batteries has soared massively all over the world. This has been primarily because of the high costs of the lithium-ion battery recycling process. Lithium-ion batteries comprise only 2–7% of lithium and recycling these batteries is generally five times more expensive than getting lithium directly from various natural sources. Moreover, cobalt is the only component worth recycling in the battery. However, with battery manufacturing companies increasingly focusing on developing batteries that omit or mitigate the usage of cobalt, the demand for the recycling of the material is falling rapidly.

This is, in turn, propelling the popularity of second-life lithium-ion batteries. Besides, the mushrooming deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) in several countries is also driving the expansion of the second-life automotive lithium-ion battery market. Owing to the surging concerns being raised over the rapid environmental degradation, on account of the rapid depletion of the ozone layer, the demand for EVs is rising sharply. Currently, the automobile sector accounts for nearly 43% of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the globe.

Across the globe, the demand for second-life automotive lithium-ion batteries was found to be the highest in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region during the last few years. Moreover, the region is predicted to become the largest second-life automotive lithium-ion battery market in the upcoming years. This will be because of the burgeoning sales of EVs, especially in China and India, on account of the implementation of favorable government regulations and policies in these countries.

Hence, it can be safely said that the demand for second-life automotive lithium-ion batteries will surge sharply in the coming years, mainly because of the soaring cost of battery recycling and mushrooming deployment of EVs across the world.