Most LIBs currently collected in Europe come from portable electronics and tools. The collection of these battery types is organised by national collection schemes which are paid for by OEMs fulfilling their extended producer responsibility (EPR).

 

So far the number of EoL batteries from EVs has been negligible. Most of them originate from buses and taxis [3], from the car development process (tests) or from salvaged cars. The last flow of EoL batteries is managed by car scraping and dismantling companies, some of which sell the batteries for a second life or as replacement parts for other cars. In 2-3 years, EV batteries will account for the majority of the total EoL LIB volume in Europe, with the first packs coming from models such as Nissan Leaf or the Renault Zoe.
 

It is uncertain how the collection of EV batteries will be handled on a mass scale. The EV OEMs are foreseen incentivising return of batteries close to their EoL. The main bottlenecks in the collection include: insufficient standardisation, inefficient paperwork related to cross-border transport of LIBs and complex dismantling process of EV batteries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

References:

[1]    H. Bekker, “2019 (Full Year) Europe: Electric and Plug-In Hybrid Car Sales per EU and EFTA Country - Car Sales Statistics,” Car Sales Statistics, Feb. 06, 2020. https://www.best-selling-cars.com/electric/latest-europe-electric-and-plug-in-hybrid-car-sales-per-eu-and-efta-country/ (accessed Apr. 16, 2020).
[2]    Contributors to Wikimedia projects, “Plug-in electric vehicles in Europe - Wikipedia,” Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Jan. 29, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicles_in_Europe (accessed Apr. 16, 2020).
[3]    H. E. Melin, “The Lithium-Ion Battery End-of-Life Market—A Baseline Study,” in World Economic Forum: Cologny, Switzerland, 2018, pp. 1–11.
[4]    “Battery market – Accurec Recycling GmbH.” https://accurec.de/battery-market (accessed Apr. 15, 2020).
[5]    K. Field, “BloombergNEF: Lithium-Ion Battery Cell Densities Have Almost Tripled Since 2010 | CleanTechnica,” CleanTechnica, Feb. 19, 2020. https://cleantechnica.com/2020/02/19/bloombergnef-lithium-ion-battery-cell-densities-have-almost-tripled-since-2010/ (accessed Apr. 15, 2020).
[6]    “Passenger cars in the EU - Statistics Explained.” https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Passenger_cars_in_the_EU#Overview (accessed Apr. 16, 2020).