Australia and South America have vast lithium deposits, but the extraction process uses billions of gallons of water a year and can devastate the environment. ![]() "Ironically, lithium is not the most important material in a lithium-ion battery." Jeffrey Spangenberger ![]() It's one reason the batteries are the costliest part of an electric vehicle. Nickel, graphite, manganese and cobalt are also important, Spangenberger says, especially cobalt, the most expensive material in EV batteries. "Ironically, lithium is not the most important material in a lithium-ion battery," says Jeffrey Spangenberger, director of Argonne National Laboratory's ReCell Center, which works to advance battery-recycling technologies. Lithium is what scientists call "energy dense," packing a powerful punch relative to its size and weight. Lithium-ion batteries are in the vast majority of electric cars and trucks. with an added measure of energy independence. The recycled energy cells could also provide the U.S. Now, a Massachusetts startup has a unique solution that gives the worn-out energy cells new life, making EVs more sustainable - and cheaper, too.Īscend Elements claims it can turn spent lithium-ion batteries into ones that are better than new - longer-lasting, faster-charging and less-polluting. The world needs better ways to deal with dead batteries. All those EVs are powered by batteries, and when they come to end of their life cycles, they could end up as toxic trash. ![]() There are about 10 million battery-powered vehicles on the road today, and by the end of the decade, the International Energy Agency predicts there could be 230 million.īut there's a problem down the road. The switch to electric vehicles is accelerating worldwide. Facebook Email A container of "black mass," made from ground-up lithium batteries, now ready for recycling.
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