Each battery in the unit is connected to a computer system that monitors temperature levels and energy availability, as well as managing charging and discharging rates. “We use the batteries almost exactly as they are coming out of the vehicle,” says the firm’s chief executive Matthew Lumsden. Connected Energy, a Newcastle-based firm, takes old EV batteries and combines them into stationary power storage units. Storage capacity may no longer allow for a 250km round-trip, but that doesn’t render them useless. Photograph: 44799/Handout Reuse: energy storageĪt some stage, battery performance wanes. The Aceleron battery has been designed to be easy to disassemble so its components can be sent for repairs, servicing, or repurposing. The Midlands-based company has deals to use its battery system in trucks and all-terrain vehicles. “If you can make a battery serviceable, it’s possible to extend its life by 10 years,” says co-founder Carlton Cummins. Aceleron’s alternative, uses compression to reduce the need to bond components, making it easier to disassemble a battery pack for repairs, servicing, or repurposing. Most batteries are glued or welded together, making it a headache to access a broken component. The key components in an electric battery – the cathode, anode, separator, cooling system, fuses, assembly hardware, and so on – all have different lifespans. The UK startup hope to do for battery packs what the Dutch firm Fairphone has done for smartphones namely, go modular. The shift to electric is projected to create 12m tonnes of battery waste between now and by 2030. Design: going modularĮlectronics have an obsolescence problem that EVs share. The company have also recently announced the start of construction on a new lithium plant in Argentina which they claim will meet 15% of European lithium needs. With 90% yield rates, almost double the industry average, less virgin lithium ends up “in the dustbin”, says Philippe Gundermann, executive vice-president for strategy and innovation at Eramet. The company has invested €200m (£145m) in the project, including the construction of a working prototype in Salta, Argentina. French metals company Eramet is experimenting with an alternative based on “nanofiltration”, which filters the water through natural mineral granules and returns it to the aquifer. In the case of the latter, vast quantities of salty groundwater are pumped to the surface and then evaporated in huge lake-sized pools. Lithium, a rare metal on which EV batteries heavily depend, is extracted from land deposits or subterranean aquifers. Mining: saving the aquiferĪcquiring the raw metals for batteries has been linked to environmental and human rights impacts, such as child labour ( cobalt) and river pollution ( copper).Īn Eramet facility in Salta, Argentina where the French metals company is working on a process that filters water used in lithium extraction so it can be returned to its source. Here, we look at five early stage efforts to improve the green credentials of EV batteries at different stages of their life. They contain rare metals – many sourced from the poorest and most ecologically sensitive places on the planet. The batteries that EVs use are a big part of this problem and can push the weight of the car up to nearly 3,000kg. As a recent Guardian investigation shows, the human rights and environmental costs of the green transport revolution are still not being fully considered in the race towards electric vehicles.
EVs do not have exhausts pumping out emissions, but the raw materials that go into them have just as much embedded carbon, if not more, as their combustion equivalents. If you can make a battery serviceable, it’s possible to extend its life by 10 years Carlton Cummins, Aceleron co-founder Despite an overall flatlining in new car purchases, recent monthly figures show a 50% leap in year-on-year sales for EVs.
While green hydrogen is developing at pace, much of the early progress is in the electric vehicle (EV) space. To cut vehicle emissions, an alternative to the combustion engine is required. Nowhere is this truer than for transport. But, amid the slew of “pathways” and “roadmaps”, one broad consensus exists: “clean” technology will play a vital role. W hile the journey to a low-carbon economy is well under way, the best route to get there remains up for debate.
0 kommentar(er)
