White House Is Backing This Crucial EV Technology

• The Department of Energy reveals grants totaling $44.8 million for several companies and labs working on EV battery recycling processes that will permit crucial materials to be extracted from batteries and reused.

• As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the White House has been backing a number of efforts aimed at repurposing and recycling old EV batteries, with this sector expected to surge in the coming years.

• In addition to the recovery of valuable materials from old batteries, efforts are underway to convert used EV batteries into energy storage systems that could be used in conjunction with charging stations or the power grid itself.

We're still a few years away from a time when used EVs will start piling up in the tens of thousands, awaiting their batteries to be recycled, repurposed, or repaired, but the industry is already getting ready for that future.

The Biden administration has recently revealed $44.8 million in funds, drawn from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), aimed at lowering the costs of EV battery and drive unit component recycling, in addition to developing stationary battery energy storage systems (BESS) that are also expected to grow in number in the coming years.

A total of eight projects were selected by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office to develop recycling technologies, including second-life applications, for used battery packs as the oldest EVs on the road start retiring.

• $3.4 million of this amount will be provided to B2U Storage Solutions, Inc. to develop a system to safely transport second-life EV batteries, assuring a fire-resistant storage system that will also be able to be monitored in real time, given the safety issues surrounding damaged battery packs.

• $6.3 million will be given to ReJoule Incorporated to create a system to detect damage and defects to battery packs once they've been removed from a vehicle and stored at an appropriate site. The Rochester Institute of Technology will receive $7.1 million to design a similar system that speeds up and semi-automate battery pack testing and dismantling.

• The Department of Energy has also selected the Tennessee Technological University to receive $4.8 million to develop compact mobile preprocessing hubs that will be able to be deployed to at local collection points to shred EV batteries, envisioning a transportable system that will be able to visit yards where EVs are disassembled.

• Caterpillar will receive $5 million to develop a new battery pack design for heavy machinery that will permit a more efficient dismantling procedure.

The issue of battery pack casings themselves will also receive attention in this funding round, with the University of Akron receiving $2 million to stop the flow of plastics from battery recycling operations to landfills, instead recycling the plastics themselves for new battery packs.

General Motors, meanwhile, will be tasked with creating an automatic sorting and de-hazarding system that will be able to be used by dealers, mechanics or recyclers, with the Department of Energy selecting it for approximately $8 million in funding.

While most of the funds from this grant program will be used for testing, removing, and storing batteries from EVs, the issue of second-life applications is also receiving plenty of interest from automakers themselves, eager to find ways to use former EV batteries as part of the electric grid by building battery energy storage systems.

"The demand for EVs and stationary storage is projected to increase the size of the lithium battery market five- to 10-fold by the end of the decade, making US investments to accelerate the development of a resilient domestic supply chain for high-capacity batteries essential," the Department of Energy noted.

Time will tell just when EV battery recycling will become truly commonplace, but it's becoming more evident that a circular economy around EV batteries is in the early stages of forming.

Will it become common in the future to convert old EV batteries into energy storage systems to support the grid or charging stations, or will this type of tech remain relatively niche? Let us know what you think in the comments below.