In recent years, the sales of electric vehicles have maintained rapid growth, and the ownership has increased rapidly. This brings a problem, the relevant report shows that the first batch of new energy vehicles are ushering in the decommissioning tide of power batteries, in 2020, the total number of decommissioned power batteries will exceed 200,000 tons, according to the current industry development trend, this number will increase to 800,000 tons in the next five years.
It should be known that the power battery contains a variety of heavy metals, if it is discarded to nature at will, it is difficult to get degraded, which is a disaster for the ecological environment. Some experts claim that a 20-gram mobile phone battery can pollute 1 square kilometer of land for 50 years, and the fluoride produced therein is harmful to the human body.
Why do power batteries retire so quickly? At present, the power batteries equipped with new energy vehicles in the domestic market are mainly ternary lithium batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries, lithium manganate batteries, and lithium titanate batteries, which can be collectively referred to as "lithium batteries". Combining factors such as energy density, safety, and production costs, lithium batteries are currently the optimal solution.
With the increase in the number of charges, the performance and endurance of lithium batteries will inevitably decay. In fact, when the actual capacity of lithium batteries is lower than 80% of the calibrated capacity, it is no longer suitable as a new energy vehicle power battery, and the service life is mostly 3-5 years. This is a natural defect that directly leads to the low retention rate of pure electric vehicles. Of course, car companies have also thought of many ways, such as strengthening charge and discharge protection and thermal management optimization, which has relatively delayed the attenuation. In addition, in response to consumer concerns, the relevant warranty policies have been released, which is nothing more than the car companies themselves paying for some compensation.
Therefore, power battery recycling is a very important part of the new energy vehicle industry chain and has received more and more attention. Waste batteries can be recycled, all riders have replaced the battery are clear, do not give waste parts, merchant quotations are different. However, the disposal of waste power batteries, the owner can only be regarded as limited compensation and a small comfort. According to the current market, 4S stores recycle power batteries, often can give dozens of yuan a kilowatt-hour (residual capacity) price, car owners can generally get thousands of yuan, but users to replace the new power battery, you have to spend tens of thousands of yuan, very helpless. This point is not too much for everyone to understand, for general industrial commodities, how much value can the production of raw materials account for? However, for waste batteries, there is still some value in raw materials.
How are automotive lithium batteries recycled? Uncle Che made a GIF with everyone for everyone to understand.
Of course, the above figure shows the basic principle that the actual production process of battery recycling companies is more complicated. Taking lithium iron phosphate batteries as an example (other lithium batteries are recycled the same), after getting the waste batteries, we must first judge whether they can be downgraded and continue to be used, if they can, they can be used for power grid energy storage and low-speed electric vehicles. If it cannot be downgraded and continued to be used, it is necessary to carry out scrap treatment and full discharge first to avoid harm to people and machines. Next, the metal shell of the battery is removed, and the electrolyte and toxic and harmful gases generated during the dismantling process are also recovered by the exhaust gas liquid recovery system.
In the next step, the battery cell can separate the diaphragm, copper foil, graphite powder, electrode material, and then smelt high-purity lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese elements from the electrode material, and now the extraction rate can reach more than 99%. These elements are generally stored in nature in the form of minerals and need to be mined by upstream enterprises, which is a pity if they are not recycled. Finally, battery recycling companies process these into lithium carbonate and other products and sell them directly to battery manufacturers such as CATL and BYD.
In general, battery recycling has a little technical threshold, but it is not high, and some small workshops also have this business. Of course, if you want to ensure output, efficiency, compliance, and advanced production technology, you need to purchase some expensive equipment, the upfront investment reaches hundreds of millions of yuan, and the profit is very limited. Fortunately, the state will now give financial subsidies to relevant enterprises, and the battery recycling industry has been chased by capital, and the prospects are broad.
Uncle Che concluded
The battery recycling industry is developed perfectly, and the ecology of new energy vehicles will be more mature. For the majority of car consumers, this article is mainly popular science, everyone may be most concerned about, why should the cost of battery attenuation be borne by users? The subsidy of the manufacturer is only temporary and uncertain, when will the battery attenuation be completely solved from the technical level? Scientists need to continue to work hard, or simply change the truly alternative technical path, all of which should be considered in the long run. Today, Uncle Che will talk to everyone here, you can leave a message in the comment area, and discuss with Uncle Che.