Electric vehicles battery recycling business opportunity in 2022 

No matter how much we talk about lithium-ion batteries it will be less only because it is a very substantial topic to discuss especially for electric vehicles. To begin with, the market for lithium-ion battery in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 34.8% during the forecast period of 2019-2014. Let us know read about Electric vehicles battery recycling business opportunity in 2022. 

Electric vehicles battery recycling business

Some of the factors such as decrease in lithium-ion battery prices along with the emergence of new and exciting markets, i.e., electric vehicle and energy storage systems (ESS) for both commercial and residential use are expected to be the major factors for the lithium-ion battery market in India. The lack of lithium reserves in the country is becoming a major challenge to produce lithium-ion battery locally.

Battery recycling market, opportunity & challenges in India-Alternate to lithium imports

There are also some other areas in India where the lithium-ion battery market has a high demand. The uptake of the lithium-ion-based energy storage in India is expected to create significant opportunities for India lithium-ion battery market in the future.

However, in India, the growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market is still in its infancy in India but we can expect its rapid growth in coming years as the government has undertaken various initiatives to promote electric vehicles in the country. As the government has set a target to become an all EV nation by 2030. For EVs mass adoption in India, the government has announced its plan to introduce 10,000 electric buses and 50,000 electric rickshaws within the next few years. This is expected to raise the consumption of lithium-ion batteries.

In 2017, the government of India ordered 10,000 electric cars from Tata Motors in September in regard to increasing the EV adoption in the country. The expected increase in the sale of electric vehicles is expected to drive the demand for lithium-ion batteries as well.

In December 2017, the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Sector Enterprises announced their commitment to making public transport fully electric, under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles (FAME) India scheme.

That is why the growth of the EVs in the Indian market is expected to have a direct impact on the growth of the lithium-ion battery market in the country. Therefore the growth of the lithium-ion batteries is much needed. At current, there are some major companies include Exide Industries Ltd., Amara Raja Batteries Ltd, Toshiba Corporation, etc.

As per the JMK Research, the lithium-ion battery market in India is expected to increase from 2.9 GWh in 2018 to about 132 GWh by 2030 at a CAGR of 35.5%.

The increasing volume of lithium-ion batteries, would, in turn, lead to a growing capacity of ‘spent’ batteries in the ecosystem. The annual recycling market is expected to be around 22-23 GWh, which is a $1,000 million opportunity.

Battery recycling opportunity in India in 2022 

The research says that the estimate recycling market in India will slowly start in 2022 when present batteries which are in use in electric vehicles would reach their end of life. However industrial recycling of lithium-ion batteries is done mainly in the European Union and China. The market is still in its infancy.

As India is heavily dependant on battery metals imports is one of the main reason that India is still not a scale manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries. Many companies in India have already started looking at this opportunity and have also set up or announced their plans to set up recycling operations.

MG Motor partnered with Umicore 

MG Motor and Hyundai Motor in India have already launched their electric cars MG ZS EV and Kona Electric in Indian markets. Not only this the MG Motor has also partnered with Umicore, a lithium battery recycling solutions provider, for effective life cycle management of the batteries used in ZS EV.

Tata Chemical launched Li-ion battery recycling operations

In August 2019, the Tata Chemicals have launched its lithium-ion battery recycling operations in Mumbai. It was launched as the pilot-scale and could recycle the spent batteries successfully.

Mahindra Electric has also announced its plans for EV battery recycling, in a method similar to the recycling of cell phone batteries, with the help of a supply partner.

Battery recycling process by CEO of REDUX Recycling GmbH

Holger Kuhlmann, a battery recycling expert and Chief Executive Officer at Germany based company REDUX Recycling GmbH had explained, “The battery cells are assembled in modules which are then moulded in battery packs. There are three steps involved in the recycling of batteries. In the first step, we have to discharge and dismantle the battery by taking out the cells which are then put in the thermal treatment process for the electrolyte followed by a mechanical and chemical treatment process to get back lithium and other components.”

Demand for aluminium-major opportunities for auto supply chain 

As there is a huge shift towards electric vehicles, the demand for aluminium is been increasing rapidly. Aluminium is three times more expensive than the steel but still, it is widely used in electric vehicles by the manufacturers creating major opportunities for auto supply chain companies.

Aluminium is said to be lighter than the steel which is been used as the choice in a range of parts from chassis, structural components such as the shock tower and internal panels to housing for motors and the batteries that power electric cars. The aluminium producers such as Rusal, Rio Tinto and Glencore with access to large amounts of metal are set to benefit.

“The electric vehicle segment is the bright spot in the automotive segment, currently 20% of sales volume is going to e-mobility and the tendency is increasing,” said Egil Hogna, head of Extruded Solutions at Norsk Hydro.

Every year the auto industry delivers more than 350,000 tonnes of aluminium products. Out of it, 15% is used for electric vehicles. It allocates 30% of its auto investment budget within its extruded solutions division to products for electric vehicle customers this year and expects annual growth of 20% in some parts of its aluminium product business between 2020 and 2024.

If you are an EV manufacturer or EV Dealer or EV Supporter who want to share news related to electric vehicles on our website, please send an email to crm@electricvehicles.in