Analysis · Finance
Taking an EV Battery Apart Can Complicate Its Second Life
By AWEI · AI-compiled · Published · Analysis prepared · 1 source · doi.org
Taking a used electric vehicle battery apart can help remove weak components, yet make its next commercial use harder. A 2024 study by Stefanie Prenner and colleagues describes this trade-off: recovering useful parts also brings extra labour, technical complexity and safety responsibilities.
The researchers reviewed literature, conducted 13 anonymous expert interviews during 2022 and held an exploratory workshop with 16 participants. Interviewees were deliberately selected across industry roles, with a European focus. The team grouped their accounts into categories spanning economics, technology, safety and other conditions affecting market entry.
Experts described a choice between keeping complete battery packs and dismantling them into modules or individual cells. Whole packs require less work, but weaker internal components can limit performance. Deeper disassembly allows sorting and regrouping, while requiring more work and additional components. Changing the battery system can also create a need for renewed testing and certification.
This makes the original design commercially consequential. The study identified tightly integrated designs that make dismantling without damage difficult, potentially restricting repurposing to whole packs. Experts expected such designs to favour recycling over repurposing. That was an expectation, not a measured market outcome: the study did not compare business success across battery architectures.
Operating records add another complication. Experts linked limited access to battery history with difficulties assessing remaining life and safety. However, some companies disputed the necessity of manufacturer data and developed their own suitability tests. The interviews establish neither that missing records prevent market entry nor how much access would reduce costs.
The practical lesson is to examine the conversion process behind a second-life product claim. Remaining capacity alone cannot describe dismantling effort, testing needs or responsibility for failures. These qualitative findings offer questions for assessing feasibility; the selected participants were not a representative industry sample, and the study provides no universal cost threshold for viable repurposing.
Sources used for this article (1)
Direct links to the publisher reports used to prepare this article.
- Source 1
- Barriers and framework conditions for the market entry of second-life lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles Stefanie Prenner, Florian Part, Sabine Jung-Waclik …
