French automaker Renault’s executive has said that the carmaker is in advanced discussions with potential partners to recycle electric vehicle batteries. The company plans to extract and recycle lithium and other metals from used batteries in order to reuse more of the strategic raw materials. Renault is aiming to become the first European automaker to recycle batteries on an industrial scale. Recycling car parts, however, is increasingly common in the auto industry.
Jean-Philippe Bahuaud, chief executive of ‘The Future Is Neutral’ (TFIN), Renault’s environment unit, said, “In Europe, there is currently… nobody who can claim to recycle used batteries in a closed-loop to reproduce nickel, cobalt and lithium to make new batteries.” In an interview ahead of the ChangeNOW conference in Paris this week, he said, “Discussions with specialist companies who can partner on the recycling are at an “advanced” stage.”
The inspiration to work towards recycling EV batteries is to decrease the bloc’s dependency on China for materials. Most of the metals used in batteries that power EVs are mined and processed outside Europe, thus increasing concerns related to the region’s heavy reliance on China. Additionally, recovering and reusing these materials can also lead to significant cost-savings, which account for as much as 70% of a battery’s cost. Batteries, in turn, make up to 40% of the vehicle’s cost.
A pioneer in electric vehicles with partner Nissan last decade, Renault has been overtaken by Tesla and several Chinese brands in the current times. However, its Renault and Dacia brands are still among the leading brands in Europe’s EV market. In April, it will stop production of new vehicles at its Flins factory to the west of Paris, and shift completely to production of partially recycled car components and reconditioned vehicles.
Bahuaud expects Flins to repair 9,000 batteries this year. Renault sells the batteries and other reconditioned parts such as electric engines and chargers at a 30% discount to new products. Apart from Renault, Miner Eramet is also planning to build a battery recycling facility with waste company Suez at northern French port Dunkirk to start operations next year. However, a final investment decision is still pending.