Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling

Are you seeing more and more electric cars while you are out and about in Evesham Township or Cherry Hill? It’s no surprise that EVs are becoming a more common site on Hamilton Township roads thanks to their environmental benefits, advanced technology, and improved range. If you are thinking about making an electric car your own, or you are already an EV owner, you may have concerns about EV battery disposal. What happens to old electric car batteries once they are past their prime? The team at MINI of Mount Laurel dives into the details of electric car battery recycling below. 

What Happens to Old Electric Car Batteries? 

So, what happens to old electric car batteries when they can no longer operate efficiently? Many components of these batteries are recyclable, so auto recyclers ship the batteries off to specialized firms to take the EV batteries apart. Once disassembled, the cells and circuits are crushed to sort out and purify the metals.

The team at MINI of Mount Laurel responsibly disposes of hybrid batteries, as well. Most automakers have guidelines and collection programs specifically for hybrid battery recycling. 

EV Battery Disposal – How the Recycling Process Works 

The processes for recycling hybrid batteries and EV batteries are actually quite similar despite the difference in the size of these batteries. Here is a general overview of what happens. 

• EV battery packs are sent off to a facility that specializes in recycling and disassembling the batteries. 
• In most cases, the steel, copper, or aluminum scrap metal goes into the nationwide metals-recycling stream.
• The battery cells are ground up and the stream is purified. This leads to a pure supply of materials like lithium, cobalt, manganese, aluminum, and nickel. 

EV Battery Recycling in the Future 

Now that you know more about EV battery disposal, you may be wondering whether it’s possible to repurpose EV batteries. While opportunities exist, it is not a common practice to repurpose EV batteries because of the associated costs. Because EVs are growing in popularity, there will be plenty of opportunities to develop new technology to make the process more cost-effective.

Liquid hydrocarbons can no longer provide energy when a battery reaches the end of its lifecycle. That is not the case for some components of an EV battery like cobalt. Cobalt and other components can be reused again and again. Because of this, depleted batteries are a great source of valuable battery production resources. 

Adopt the EV Lifestyle Today

Now that you know what happens to old electric car batteries during electric car battery recycling, are you interested in learning more about the environmental benefits of electric cars? We’d love to share them with you! We can also get you set up with a test drive in an EV to see just how seamless the shift to an electric car can be. Visit our showroom today, or get in touch with us if you have any questions.