Project

I had a phone call with my father about electric cars, because he wants to buy a new car for me. He told me, „Electric car batteries are difficult to produce, some important resources for batteries like selenium are only available in China and the batteries will be produced in China, it’s like hiring a spy who is driving with you all the time“. I answered, „That I’m not able to tell much about the production of electric car batteries, because I never read something about it“. He added, „Batteries have no longevity and they need to be replaced often, they generate a lot of garbage that will be thrown away to garbage dumps, pollute the environment there. People who live in the dumps have to burn the garbage which is toxic for them“. „Absolutely”, I said, „the people have no proper equipment for this job and they are forced to do that toxic job due to a lack of available jobs. They will be used from us like prostitutes“. He said, „Like the green dot which is printed on many packages with the promise to recycle the packs, but in the end, they finish up on garbage dumps in the same place like the batteries“. I told him, „I informed 21 years ago about the recycle path of the green dot for a presentation in high school. As I remember, they recycle the plastic bottles by cutting it in pieces to plastic pellets and use it for the production of new bottles. I got a very good degree for my presentation to this issue“. He answered, „but it’s not possible with packages made of more than one material, they will be thrown away“. I told him, „I don’t know how it works with composite material“. After this discussion we end the phone call and arranged a next call in a couple of days“.

At another day my father called me in the morning to ask me if I watched the car from Mercedes, C200 in white. I said, „I did“, but the truth is, I forgot to take a look for it between all my other things to do. I answered, „This is no hybrid car. A hybrid car would I like better“. He told me, „I searched for a hybrid car, but I didn’t find an interesting offer, also there are not much of them to find. The problem is that a used car has a used electric car battery and you never really know if this battery has still a good range. A broken battery is expensive to change, costs up to 2000 euro.“ While he is talking I opened the website mobile.de and searched for the car that he mentioned. I drew his attention to it that I’m sure that an electric car is the future car we will use. „Also it is better to renounce a combustion engine which needs petrol from Arab states, first to be independent, second I guess that at some near point in the future must the petrol be empty. So, it’s better to produce the own electric car batteries even they haven’t enough range, I guess“. My father replied, „We don’t get petrol only from the Arab states, we get also petrol from the USA. The batteries are produced in China anyway and not in Germany, also the resources like lithium are from China, therefore there is no independency“. I retorted, „I don’t think that the USA exports huge amounts of petrol to Germany, I think that they are using the petrol mainly for themselves. The resources like lithium, cobalt and manganese are sourced from different countries like Australia, not mainly from China. That means, we aren’t dependent on just one country“. He told, „But the batteries are produced mainly in China. The USA exports a lot of petrol to Germany“. I said, „There are also in Germany companies which are producing batteries for electric cars and they also try to recycle the batteries to build new ones“. My father agreed, „That’s right, but the technique is still not advanced enough to produce our own electric car batteries in this amount that we would need. In additional, the batteries must be probably replaced every two years, when their function declines, it would costs a lot“.

Startups

Car batteries for electric cars with lithium ions such as lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) predominate in production with a high energy density, range and good charging performance. BASF’s startup is building a plant for the processing of nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium. Startup Duesenfeld has developed a recovery chain for lithium, in 2020, 2000 tons were recycled. For the recovery of metals, acids and alkalis are used, among other things.

Lithium solid-state batteries were developed in cooperation between car companies and the University of Giessen. The range of the solid-state battery is higher, and the ability to recycle the battery has also been improved. Lithium-air batteries with a porous framework that react with oxygen have a high storage capacity. Zinc-air batteries as an alternative to lithium batteries are powerful but unstable. Lithium iron phosphate batteries are becoming increasingly popular, are robust, safe and durable. Energy density is lower with lithium iron phosphate batteries and thus the range, but the longevity of the battery is increased and charging is less sensitive with a lower risk of fire. Weak point of the LFP battery, the charging process should not take place at temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius.

Raw material extraction

Lithium is used to make car batteries for electric cars, 52% comes from Australia, 22% from Chile, 13% from China. Cobalt, another raw material, is exported from the Congo with 70% of the deposit, which is extracted via mining in mines. Half of nickel comes from Indonesia, Russia and the Philippines. Manganese, for the production of cathodes and graphite for anodes, are needed in addition to the construction of electric car batteries. Other car parts are made with copper, which is extracted in copper mines and comes mainly from Ecuador. Raw materials, according to the IEA, are refined in China with a share of 35% of global production, lithium 58%, cobalt 65% and rare earths 90%.

Recycling

Imported raw materials should remain in the cycle after being installed in the car batteries of electric cars, and for this purpose, raw material recycling must be further expanded in order to make raw materials from old car batteries available again. Cobalt from old car batteries can currently be used for three new car batteries, according to Matthias Buchert, Head of Resources & Mobility at the Oeko-Institut in Darmstadt. Umicore in Belgium specializes in the recycling of technology and precious metals. Other companies that recycle e-car batteries, such as Nickelhütte, are located in Aue (Saxony) and Accurec in Krefeld. A Swedish company called Northvolt recycles batteries for electric cars with 100% recycled material of nickel, manganese and cobalt. Lithium and other raw materials are being planned. Recycling must be easier and must be included in the manufacturing process of the e-car battery. Manufacturers of e-car batteries are in competition with each other, there is no communication about the composition of the battery.

Conclusion

Fans of lithium-ion batteries find it difficult to convince car batteries with a different composition and flood the market, while lovers of other car batteries such as lithium-sulfur batteries and sodium-ion batteries rely on lower costs for production and accept a reduction in range due to the cost savings. The development towards solid-state batteries with a higher energy density, long range and yet a long service life is promising. Manufacturers and buyers of car batteries will have to consider which feature of the car battery is more attractive, cost savings or investment in longevity. For example, the MINI Cooper SE is suitable for short-distance journeys with a battery size of 35-45 kWh, for long-distance journeys with high flexibility, battery capacity of 100 kWh, the Mercedes EQE 350, for mixed use such as occasional fast charging and occasional excursions, the Hyundai Kona Electric is suitable with battery capacities of 50-70 kWh. The longevity of car batteries for electric cars depends on the treatment of the user so that the range remains stable for a long time. Batteries are spared if charging is not constantly up to 100%, and the battery should not be regularly discharged to almost 0%, ideally 20% – 80%. Fast charging with DC power on the go, charging the battery with alternating current at home is possible with batteries with the battery management system without reducing the capacity of the battery. The condition check of the battery must be carried out regularly in order to detect deterioration in battery performance and to remedy it at an early stage.