“The rate at which the industry is growing is absolutely alarming,” said Paul Anderson from the University of Birmingham.
He is talking about the European electric car market.
By 2030, the EU expects to have 30 million electric cars on European roads.
“This is something that has never happened before in the growth rate of a completely new product,” said Dr Anderson, who is also co-director of the Birmingham Center for Strategic Elements and Critical Elements.
Electronic vehicles (EVs) may not emit any carbon dioxide during their careers, but he is concerned about what happens when they run on the road - especially in the case of batteries.
"In the next 10 to 15 years, when huge numbers of them come to the end of their lives, it will be very important for us to be in the recycling industry," he noted.
Although most EV components are much the same compared to conventional cars, the big difference is the battery. While conventional lead-acid batteries are widely recycled, the same cannot be said of lithium-ion versions used in electric vehicles.
EV batteries are larger and heavier than regular cars and are made up of several hundred individual lithium-ion cells, all of which need to be dismantled. These contain hazardous materials and have a tendency to explode if misplaced.
"Currently globally, it is very difficult to get detailed statistics on what percentage of lithium ion batteries have been recycled, but the cited value of each is about 5%," said Dr. Anderson. "It's low enough in some parts of the world."
Recent proposals from the European Union will see EV suppliers responsible for ensuring that products are not just dumped towards the end of their lives, and manufacturers are already beginning to reach this goal.
For example, Nissan is now reusing old batteries from its leaf vehicles in self-guided vehicles that provide part of the workers in the factory.
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