This text was initially printed by Christopher Carey on Cities Today, the main information platform on city mobility and innovation, reaching a world viewers of metropolis leaders. For the most recent updates, observe Cities At present on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, or join Cities At present Information.
Micromobility agency TIER has introduced a brand new partnership that offers ageing electrical lithium batteries a second life.
Partnering with German start-up Vertical Values, the agency will restore and upcycle faulty batteries from electrical scooters and assemble still-useable cells into new batteries.
Lithium batteries are prime targets for upcycling as they’re sometimes decommissioned from their first life once they begin to fall wanting their promised vary — regardless of nonetheless holding 70-80 p.c of their authentic cost.
Ailin Huang, Head of Sustainability at TIER, stated: “We’re delighted to work with Vertical Values to increase the lifespan of escooter batteries and have a brand new companion who may help make our mild electrical autos much more environmentally pleasant.”
“We all the time first prioritize reuse over recycling in accordance with round financial system rules.”
“Subsequent to the escooter as an entire, the batteries maintain the most important alternative for reuse as they nonetheless have over 80 p.c of their capability even after a number of hundred charging cycles. So, it’s completely crucial that we scale up the reuse of batteries.”
Upcycling
Used EV batteries are sometimes made up of a whole lot of lithium-ion battery cells which have all aged otherwise, and like in a hyperlink chain, the weakest component sometimes defines the potential of the whole system.
Vertical Values repairs the faulty escooter batteries and extracts the cells from damaged escooter batteries. Every extracted cell is evaluated individually to find out its SoH (State of Well being). As soon as the cells are correctly examined, they’re sorted after which repurposed and changed into new merchandise.
The micromobility agency says it needs to sort out the environmental burden that the mining of uncooked supplies for the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries presents, and comes amid a scarcity of the commodity.
In 2021, TIER introduced a partnership with Northvolt, a provider of sustainable, high-quality battery cells and programs, to enhance the environmental influence of the batteries used for electric-powered autos.
