Design of Battery Packs for Reuse, Remanufacture and Recycling

With the growing concern over global warming and pollution from vehicle emissions, regulations and government policies are becoming more stringent. In line with this trend, more and more zero emission and low emission vehicles are being introduced in the market across all segments. In the passenger car segment, most established OEMs are already offering several electric and hybrid models, with the commercial vehicle segment also following the trend.
Lithium-ion batteries are almost exclusively used as electrical energy storage system for these electric and hybrid vehicles. With the accelerated growth in uptake of zero and low emission vehicles, a large quantity of lithium-ion batteries will be introduced in the market. At the vehicle end of life, there will be a significant waste management challenge as lithium-ion batteries pose serious environmental risks when used as landfill or exposed to ground water. Consequently, there will be a growing demand of automotive battery pack design which will enables sustainable end of life processes - reuse, remanufacture and recycling.

In this project, existing battery pack design processes will be assessed in terms of suitability for end of life processes. Based on this assessment new battery pack design guidelines will be developed to facilitate efficient reuse, remanufacture and recycling processes. Generalised guidelines for sustainable battery pack design using other battery chemistries (e.g. solid state) will also be developed to address potential future technological shifts. Using an assessment metric a battery pack design, an end of life impact assessment tool will be developed to evaluate the suitability of any given design in terms of recycle, reuse and remanufacturing. The project outcomes will enable OEMs to use these already developed sustainable battery pack design process in their product development cycle while meeting end of life battery packs management legislative requirements. This project will help the UK to be at the forefront of the sustainable battery pack development for automotive applications.