0000000000145339
AUTHOR
Silvia Bobba
Resource depletion of a Lithium ion battery cell technology
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the dominating storage technology for electric vehicles (EVs). Different types of LIBs, using diverse cathode materials are available in the market, such as LiMn2O4, Li(Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3)O2. The cathodes contain a wide range of raw materials (RMs), among which e.g. cobalt is in the 2017 list of CRMs for the Europe Union (EU). CRMs are both of high economic importance for the EU, and vulnerable to supply security. In the last years, the increasing demand of LIBs has triggered a growing interest in the need to ensure the security and the sustainability of the supply of the CRMs used in LIBs and in general in EVs. In this context, lithium rich layered oxides from…
Life Cycle Assessment of repurposed electric vehicle batteries: an adapted method based on modelling energy flows
Abstract After their first use in electric vehicles (EVs), the residual capacity of traction batteries can make them valuable in other applications. Although reusing EV batteries remains an undeveloped market, second-use applications of EV batteries are in line with circular economy principles and the waste management hierarchy. Although substantial environmental benefits are expected from reusing traction batteries, further efforts are needed in data collection, modelling the life-cycle stages and calculating impact indicators to propose a harmonized and adapted life-cycle assessment (LCA) method. To properly assess the environmental benefits and drawbacks of using repurposed EV batteries …
Lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles: combining Environmental and Social Life Cycle Assessments
Electric vehicles (xEV) are a key low carbon technology for mobility. Although xEV have no tailpipe emissions, the production of traction batteries leads to environmental and social burdens. In this context, authors assess the environmental and social impacts of a cell of Lithium ion traction battery in order to identify the most relevant aspects and the potential added value of performing both the assessments. Results show the relevance of the resources in terms of both environmental and social impacts. Moreover, the social assessment results pointed out the relevance of the geographical boundaries, often overlooked for in the environmental analysis. The combination of both the assessment …
Energy and environmental assessment of a traction lithium-ion battery pack for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
Abstract Traction batteries are a key factor in the environmental sustainability of electric mobility and, therefore, it is necessary to evaluate their environmental performance to allow a comprehensive sustainability assessment of electric mobility. This article presents an environmental assessment of a lithium-ion traction battery for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, characterized by a composite cathode material of lithium manganese oxide (LiMn2O4) and lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide Li(NixCoyMn1-x-y)O2. Composite cathode material is an emerging technology that promises to combine the merits of several active materials into a hybrid electrode to optimize performance and reduce cost…
Sustainability Assessment of Second Life Application of Automotive Batteries (SASLAB) - JRC Exploratory Research (2016-2017) Final technical report August 2018
The fast increase of the electrified vehicles market will translate into an increase of waste batteries after their use in electrified vehicles (xEV). Once collected, batteries are usually recycled; however, their residual capacity (typically varying between 70% and 80% of the initial capacity) could be used in other applications before recycling. The interest in this topic of repurposing xEV batteries is currently high, as can be proven by numerous industrial initiatives by various types of stakeholders along the value chain of xEV batteries and by policy activities related to waste xEV batteries. SASLAB (Sustainability Assessment of Second Life Application of Automotive Batteries), an exp…