How Audi, Mercedes, Nissan aim to gain from second-life EV batteries

Fast-rising electric vehicle demand in Europe -- where EV sales have risen more than 30 percent this year -- is putting increased emphasis on the secondary market for the most valuable commodity in the vehicles: the battery packs.

From a sustainability perspective, repurposing represents a fundamental step in creating a circular economy for EV batteries. What role recycling of components will play still needs to be determined.

A report from Circular Energy Storage projects the market for second-life batteries could reach $3 billion by 2025. That is down from a 2018 estimate of $4.2 billion. 

The figures has gone down more than $1 billion because Circular Energy Storage's research shows EV batteries are more durable and originally anticipated, founder Hans Eric Meli told Automotive News Europe in an email.

He noted that very few batteries have lived a full life cycle in an EV. As a result, prices for second-life batteries can vary from $40 per kilowatt hour to more $100/kWh.

While the potential value of second-life batteries remains a moving target, it is also unclear how automakers will tap into that revenue stream. Therefore, a wide range of options are being explored

In 2021, Nissan announced its ambition to make operations and product life cycles carbon neutral by 2050. The latter includes raw materials extraction, manufacturing, use as well as the recycling or reuse of end-of-life vehicles.

"Taking the wider energy ecosystem in mind, batteries from EVs can play a powerful role in storing energy generated by renewables in domestic and commercial systems," Friederike Kienitz, Nissan's senior vice president of sustainability, corporate governance, legal, external affairs and communications for Europe, Africa, India and the Middle East, said in email.

Kienitz said when it comes to scalability, the company expects future opportunities to increase as the EV market expands.

She pointed out that Nissan is in an advantageous position because it has been offering EVs since debuting the first-generation Leaf in 2010.

"This not only provides invaluable EV experience and expertise, but we also have more than 500,000 EVs on the road globally, allowing us to further tap into second-life battery opportunities as vehicles come to the end of their life cycles," she wrote.

In addition, Nissan and energy giant Enel are collaborating on a second-life battery project that combines used EV batteries from the automaker at a power plant in Melilla, Spain, to enhance grid stability.

"Most larger second-life projects, where EV batteries are used in mWh scale stationary energy storage are almost exclusively sourced from OEMs and are primarily batteries from test fleets, R&D activities or premature replacements," Circular Energy Storage's Melin said.

Separately, the automaker’s Nissan Energy unit and Opus Campers have collaborated on a concept that uses second-life EV batteries to deliver up to a week's worth of remote power for off-grid adventures.

Contrast Nissan's history with EV newcomer Polestar, which says all its batteries are still in use, meaning second-life use cases aren’t a key factor for the Volvo Cars subsidiary.

When that changes, the Polestar plans to collaborate with Volvo, using its service network to route used batteries to regional centers where they will be sorted and deployed for repair or reuse.

In a statement emailed to Automotive News Europe, a company spokesperson noted that circularity is an important part of Polestar’s decarbonization strategy. The EV maker wants to make a climate-neutral car by 2030.

Polestar plans to leverage four strategic circularity initiatives: circular battery design; remanufacturing and repair of parts and batteries; collaborations for the second life and reuse of batteries and parts; as well as collaborations for recycling batteries.
 
"A significantly valuable part of an electric vehicle at end-of-life is its battery," the statement added. "For instance, disused batteries from electric vehicles can potentially be used for grid balancing, backup power for telecommunications or low-voltage mobility."

E-rickshaws to get power from Audi e-trons

Audi is also exploring second-life battery uses. One project is being co-run by the company's environmental foundation and non-profit German-Indian startup Nunam to use battery modules from the Audi e-tron EV family to electrify rickshaws in India.

The first e-rickshaws are scheduled to be used in India as part of a pilot project in early 2023.

"We develop our batteries with a very high repair depth, so that all parts can be replaced," Alexander Kupfer, energy, and sustainability management at Audi, said in an email. "Conversely, this makes second-life use easy, since the modules can be expanded without much effort."

In so doing, he said Audi is thinking about second life and recycling from start of development.

He added that even if the chemical composition of the battery changes over time, the methodology behind recycling and use-case specifications remain the same: The charging and storage capacity of the battery is decisive for each application.

"Electric car batteries are designed for the entire life of the vehicle. But even after that, they still have a large part of their capacity," Kupfer said. "We expect a good number of the batteries to be in good condition after their use in the car has reached its limit. Why not utilize those batteries' resources?"

He pointed out that the challenges to turn EV batteries into power systems are the same for every use case: safety, required performance guarantees such as capacity, charging speed and cost.

"They need to match with the individual use and business case," he wrote. "What we see is that the transformation cost from first life to second life needs to be very competitive and will become a major factor in the future."

He added the key will be an easy transition from first to second life, pointing to a "plug & play concept" for complete batteries as promising.

"It will include a data-driven diagnostics of the battery and software upgrade so that the batteries can work in their new environment," he explained. "We try to develop such concepts at the beginning of a new battery development."

Mercedes helps with energy storage alternative

In July, clean energy startup Moment Energy signed a supply agreement with Mercedes-Benz Energy (MBE) to find stationary energy storage applications for EV batteries.

The company integrated MBE batteries in its latest 60-kilowatt-hour energy storage solution and will deploy two of these systems later this year at God's Pocket Resort, a Canadian off-grid scuba diving resort that is diesel dependent for its power.

"While second-life batteries no longer meet EV performance standards, they are well suited for a less intensive stationary application," Moment Energy co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Sumreen Rattan said in an email. "Examples include on- and off-grid commercial and industrial applications and behind-the-meter utility applications."

Rattan noted establishing partnerships with automakers helps create awareness that these batteries will have a second life and allows their technical teams to make design decisions (form factor, cooling plate integration, and cell tap accessibility, for example) that facilitate easier repurposing of their batteries.

"When automakers anticipate that their batteries will be repurposed, they can dilute the battery cost across its first and second lives and offer their EVs at a more affordable price," she added.

She pointed out the main challenge in repurposing EV batteries for a stationary application is the lack of standardization in battery design and chemistries.

"Automakers design batteries to optimize the performance of their EVs. Batteries must be carefully monitored by a battery management system," she explained. "No universal BMSs exist that can adapt to and manage all batteries optimally."

Rattan explained that when the battery reaches an average of 80 percent of its original capacity, it can be repurposed as an energy storage system for stationary applications as they are less demanding.

"At the end of its second life, when the battery reaches about 30 percent of its original capacity, the battery can be recycled."

From Rattan's perspective, repurposing and recycling are not mutually exclusive, with recycling an essential last step of the battery life cycle.

"But by first repurposing and creating a second-life application appropriate for its stage of degradation, we extend the battery's useful life and increase the capacity of clean energy storage worldwide," she explained.

Audi’s Kupfer pointed out that recycling and reuse already co-exist today.

"The battery is only recycled when it is no longer suitable for other purposes," he said, adding that more than 90 percent of battery raw materials can be recovered using modern recycling methods.

In the future, these raw materials should be used again in new batteries, which brings several advantages.

"It saves resources when material cycles continue to close, which means that less energy is required to produce new batteries," Kupfer said. "The carbon footprint of a battery is therefore reduced overall."

BMW Group, meanwhile, has linked 700 second-life electric-car batteries to store power from wind turbines located at its so-called Storage Farm in Leipzig, Germany, which will help it build vehicles at the factory.

While all automakers are developing second-life plans for their EV batteries, what remains unclear is which options will provide long-term financially viability.

"I've spoken with some automakers who told me that second lives for batteries don't add up from a financial standpoint," Gartner analyst Pedro Pacheco said. "Some of them are not very keen on battery second life, even if they will do some projects with that topic in mind."

He said it's important to distinguish the difference between a strategic commitment from an automaker and the announcement of a project that is more about enhancing the company’s image.

"Several automakers have in the past done projects with second-life batteries that didn't necessarily lead to a big volume of second-life batteries," Pacheco said. "They do the press release, and they publish some articles and then you never hear from them again."