Where should the used power battery go?

Guided by and promoted by national policies, new energy vehicles have been operating in closed areas in 2009 and have been initially marketized in 2013. Today, they have penetrated into the daily lives of the people. It is the most common thing to go out and take an electric bus and an electric taxi to buy a new private car. Occasionally, a friend who bought a new energy car complained that after several years of use, the battery life of the car battery dropped significantly and needed to be replaced. As we all know, the battery contains a variety of heavy metal elements, which can be recycled reasonably, and improper handling may pollute the environment. I asked: "How to deal with the old battery that was replaced?" The friend thought for a moment: "I have never heard of the recycling route." This caused my deep thoughts.

New energy vehicles have sprung up like mushrooms, but the "short board" of power battery recycling has not progressed. This has become a great concern for the development of the new energy vehicle market to a certain extent. Consulting professionals have learned that the life of lithium batteries used in new energy vehicles is about 20 years, but after three or five years of use, performance will be degraded. Once the battery capacity is reduced to less than 80% of the initial capacity, the cruising range will be significantly reduced. Therefore, the power battery for new energy vehicles is generally replaced in 3-5 years. In 2015, sales of new energy vehicles in Shanghai and Beijing began to erupt, and it is estimated that in the next year or two, we will usher in a peak period of battery disposal. China Automotive Technology and Research Center predicts that by 2020, China's electric vehicle power battery cumulative scrap will reach 120,000 to 170,000 tons. Where should the used batteries go? This problem is imminent. At the time of the survey, an industry insider said: "China's auto industry has never faced historical opportunities like today, and it has never faced serious challenges like today."

After consulting the relevant documents, I found that all relevant government departments have already realized the importance of recycling and utilization of power batteries. The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection have successively issued a number of related policies to promote the development of the power battery recycling industry, and the vehicle power battery recycling policy. In the gradual improvement. However, after detailed combing, I also realized that the relevant technical specifications need to be improved, the introduction of policies as an incentive policy, and the lack of a power battery recycling mechanism, which makes it difficult to implement the policy in practice.

The recycling of power batteries is a work that contains huge treasures. It is recommended that the government speed up the establishment of a battery recycling system and build a power battery recycling system industrial chain. We can learn from the successful experience of foreign countries and develop the use of waste batteries for new energy vehicles. After being eliminated, these batteries can also be used in energy storage or related power supply base stations as well as street lamps and low-speed electric vehicles, and finally enter the recycling system. At present, this is a relatively realistic disposal method.

Recycling of power batteries is a task that requires technological innovation. It is recommended to speed up independent research and development and break through the technical bottleneck of disposal of used power batteries. It is an environmentally viable path to promote the disposal of used power batteries into the circular economy with scientific and technological progress. For example, some foreign companies have made technological breakthroughs, developed a nickel-hydrogen battery recycling mass production process, extracted mixed rare earth oxides from the failed products, and further molten salt electrolysis as a mixed rare earth metal that can be directly used to prepare nickel-metal hydride battery anode materials. This approach has more cost and component advantages than rare earths mined from mining. In addition, the direct application of the mixed rare earth by molten salt electrolysis avoids the complicated separation and purification of the rare earth and shortens the traditional recycling process. This recycling mode will surely become the main way to recycle electrical and electronic waste in the future.

The recycling of power batteries is a job that requires the government to make a difference. On the one hand, it is necessary to refine policies, strengthen implementation, encourage production and sales companies to participate in the recycling of power batteries through financial subsidies, and guide the market to establish a battery recycling mechanism. On the other hand, it is necessary to introduce battery technology standards and guide enterprises to produce standardized power batteries, laying the foundation for large-scale series combination in the future. Accelerate the construction of power battery recycling management standard system, standardize traceability management, ladder product management, scrapping and punishment management systems.