TYPE Review

PUBLISHED 08 April 2024

DOI 10.3389/fchem.2024.1358417

Lithium-ion battery second life:

OPEN ACCESS pathways, challenges and outlook
EDITED BY
Mirko Magni,
Università degli studi di Milano, Italy Anisha N. Patel 1*†, Laura Lander 2†, Jyoti Ahuja 3, James Bulman 4,
REVIEWED BY
James K. H. Lum 1, Julian O. D. Pople 5, Alastair Hales 4,6,
Kae Fink, Yatish Patel 1*† and Jacqueline S. Edge 1,6*
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (DOE),
United States 1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom,
Kai Wang, 2
Department of Engineering, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom, 3Birmingham Law
Qingdao University, China School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 4Department of Mechanical
*CORRESPONDENCE
Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom, 5Department of Engineering, University of
Anisha N. Patel, Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, 6The Faraday Institution, Didcot, United Kingdom
[email protected]
Yatish Patel,
[email protected]
Jacqueline S. Edge,
[email protected] Net zero targets have resulted in a drive to decarbonise the transport sector
†
worldwide through electrification. This has, in turn, led to an exponentially
These authors share senior authorship
growing battery market and, conversely, increasing attention on how we can
RECEIVED 19 December 2023
ACCEPTED 20 March 2024
reduce the environmental impact of batteries and promote a more efficient
PUBLISHED 08 April 2024 circular economy to achieve real net zero. As these batteries reach the end of
CITATION
their first life, challenges arise as to how to collect and process them, in order to
Patel AN, Lander L, Ahuja J, Bulman J, Lum JKH, maximise their economical use before finally being recycled. Despite the growing
Pople JOD, Hales A, Patel Y and Edge JS (2024), body of work around this topic, the decision-making process on which pathways
Lithium-ion battery second life: pathways,
challenges and outlook.
batteries could take is not yet well understood, and clear policies and standards to
Front. Chem. 12:1358417. support implementation of processes and infrastructure are still lacking.
doi: 10.3389/fchem.2024.1358417 Requirements and challenges behind recycling and second life applications
COPYRIGHT are complex and continue being defined in industry and academia. Both
© 2024 Patel, Lander, Ahuja, Bulman, Lum, pathways rely on cell collection, selection and processing, and are confronted
Pople, Hales, Patel and Edge. This is an open-
access article distributed under the terms of the with the complexities of pack disassembly, as well as a diversity of cell
Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). chemistries, state-of-health, size, and form factor. There are several
The use, distribution or reproduction in other opportunities to address these barriers, such as standardisation of battery
forums is permitted, provided the original
author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are design and reviewing the criteria for a battery’s end-of-life. These revisions
credited and that the original publication in this could potentially improve the overall sustainability of batteries, but may
journal is cited, in accordance with accepted require policies to drive such transformation across the industry. The
academic practice. No use, distribution or
reproduction is permitted which does not influence of policies in triggering a pattern of behaviour that favours one
comply with these terms. pathway over another are examined and suggestions are made for policy
amendments that could support a second life pipeline, while encouraging the
development of an efficient recycling industry. This review explains the different
pathways that end-of-life EV batteries could follow, either immediate recycling or
service in one of a variety of second life applications, before eventual recycling.
The challenges and barriers to each pathway are discussed, taking into account
their relative environmental and economic feasibility and competing advantages
and disadvantages of each. The review identifies key areas where processes need
to be simplified and decision criteria clearly defined, so that optimal pathways can
be rapidly determined for each end-of-life battery.

KEYWORDS

lithium-ion battery, end-of-life, second life, repurposing, state-of-health, safety, policy,

regulation

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1 Introduction: Pathways for end-of- automotive applications (Ramoni and Zhang, 2013; Martinez-
life batteries Laserna et al., 2018). Furthermore, different applications can
tolerate lower state-of-health (SoH) values without significant
The race towards global electrification and zero carbon compromises on performance or safety, hence the EoL criteria is
emission is raising new challenges, notably the surge in end- an overly conservative definition that can be greatly improved by
of-life (EoL) lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) from electric vehicles considering chemistry and application.
(EVs). By 2025, it is estimated that over 800,000 metric tons of EV In this review, we highlight the issues with disposal before
batteries worldwide (Wu et al., 2020). EoL is defined as when a focussing on recycling and repurposing pathways, holistically
battery reaches 70%–80% of its original storage capacity (Wood bringing together technical, economic, policy and environmental
et al., 2011; Lih et al., 2012; Lacey et al., 2013; Ambrose et al., perspectives for the first time. We outline current strategies for
2014; Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018). This 80% EoL criterion was deciding EoL battery pathways, discussing key challenges, as well as
established for nickel-cadmium batteries (Martinez-Laserna technical barriers, that must be overcome.
et al., 2018). Despite the uptake of modern LiBs, the 80% Once a battery has reached the EoL for its primary use, it can
criterion is still in use to define the EoL of all EV packs, follow one of four pathways, as described in Figure 1 and
including those using lithium technologies. LiBs have far summarised as follows (Engel et al., 2019):
greater energy [240–300 Wh/kg (Global, 2020)], power
[200–950 W/kg (Dechent et al., 2021)] and longer lifetimes (i) direct disposal, in which batteries are placed in landfills;
[6–15 years (Ambrose et al., 2014)] than their traditional (ii) recycling, for resource recovery;
counterparts. It is estimated that by 2030 there will be up to (iii) reuse in an alternative automotive application, followed by
120 GWh/year of wasted, untapped resource stored in EoL recycling or disposal;
batteries (Global, 2020). This is driving a new field of research (iv) repurposing for a second life application, followed by
into ways of reusing EoL batteries in further, less demanding, recycling or disposal.

FIGURE 1
A flowchart showing the end-of-life (EoL) pathways for the battery lifecycle, including decisions which need to be made at specific stages.
Qualitative ranges have been selected, as the actual figures may change over time. For example, at present, when deciding which route to choose for an
EoL battery pack, based on the state-of-health (SoH) check, those which exceed 80% (“above”) are suitable for reuse in another automotive application;
those which demonstrate 50% or less (“below”) must be dismantled and those which lie between these limits (“mid-range”) can be considered for
repurposing. Reprinted with permission from Edge, J. S., DOI:10.5281/zenodo.10257443 Preprint at 2023.

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TABLE 1 Advantages and disadvantages of recycling methodologies, including those currently available and under development. Table data summarised
from Ganter et al. (2014), Gaines et al. (2018b), Chen et al. (2019a), Lander et al. (2021), with specific references noted where appropriate.

Recycling Advantages Disadvantages

method
Pyrometallurgical Suitable for any battery composition/chemistry Energy-intensive
recycling
No pre-treatment (separation, discharge, crushing, etc.) required Additional processing required to extract metals from slag (particularly
lithium)

High recovery of metals Economic viability depends on battery compositions containing certain
valuable metals, e.g., cobalt Gaines et al. (2018b), Dunn et al. (2021),
Lander et al. (2021)

Process path is simple, easy to scale up Cannot be used for lithium iron phosphate composition

No safety hazards regarding leakage of chemicals from battery

In commercial use

Hydrometallurgical Suitable for any battery composition/chemistry Cells must be discharged, sorted and crushed or shredded, increasing
recycling complexity, length and cost of process

Energy efficient relative to pyrometallurgy, due to low temperatures High levels of waste (effluent) which needs disposal/recycling
used

High purity of extracted metals Use of solvents, although some may be recoverable for reuse

Can be the cheapest method Lander et al. (2021) Water consumption

Biometallurgical Can be tailored for many battery compositions/chemistries Cells must be discharged, sorted and crushed or shredded, increasing
recycling complexity, length and cost of process

Energy efficient relative to pyrometallurgy, due to low temperatures Biological culturing times are slow and require carefully controlled
used conditions

High purity of extracted metals

Direct recycling Able to recover a wide range of component materials Cells must be discharged, sorted and dismantled, increasing complexity,
length and cost of process. This could be helped with mandatory labelling
of cells, giving their material composition Thompson et al. (2020)

Active materials can be reused straight after recovery, although some Materials recovered from the process may not function to the same
reconditioning may be required capability as new material, due to structural changes occurring through
battery ageing. Restoration processes may be required Ganter et al. (2014)

May be the only option for battery chemistries having low value Each chemical composition will require its own recovery process. One
materials, such as lithium iron phosphate or sodium-ion batteries exact method cannot be applied to every battery type
Lander et al. (2021)

Inflexible process recovering electrode materials in their composite form,

but those materials may cease to be useful in that form, due to advances in
battery technology

Requires commercial scale-up: currently only at lab level

The first option presents an environmental hazard (Mrozik 2014), but the global processes for LiB reuse, repurposing and
et al., 2021), while the remaining three options rely on battery recycling have yet to achieve maturity.
collection and sorting, providing additional logistical complexity Direct disposal of LiBs can introduce environmental and health
and costs to the battery life cycle. Since batteries are designed and hazards, due to the toxic materials they contain, such as cobalt,
manufactured for the requirements of their first life application, they lithium and nickel, which can leach into soil and water or be released
are not necessarily optimised for use in other applications. Reuse or into the air, posing long-term detrimental effects to human and
repurposing may therefore require additional processes to restore ecosystem health. Hence, strict regulations exist globally on the
the electrochemical function of the recovered materials, cells or handling and treatment of waste LiBs (Leba et al., 2018; Mrozik et al.,
packs and make them suitable for further use. Regardless of whether 2021). While many countries may introduce similar restrictions, it is
batteries are reused or repurposed, they will eventually become conceivable that there will be countries which are less well regulated.
unusable and then require recycling, to recover the valuable LiBs are a complex mix of reactive materials and will degrade
materials within and avoid the hazards of a build-up of spent over time, even if unused. EoL batteries are likely to be degraded,
batteries or their disposal into landfills. The additional costs of potentially damaged and will become severely undercharged over
treating EoL batteries can, in some cases, be offset by the continued time, possibly undergoing a thermal runaway event and igniting a
services or reusable materials extracted from them (Standridge et al., landfill fire, which would be very difficult to suppress and cause

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considerable pollution. LiB fires are themselves especially hazardous, materials, such as active cathode, for direct reuse in new
difficult to extinguish and produce many toxic and environmentally batteries, requiring minimal further processing (Dunn et al.,
harmful vapours (Bravo Diaz et al., 2020). The scale of future EV 2012a). Overall, direct recycling processes are able to recover a
battery waste makes it imperative to find solutions to safely collect greater range of component materials, including non-metallics,
and, at the very least, dismantle LiBs. One alternative solution while producing the lowest greenhouse gas emissions. However,
proposed is to stockpile battery packs until the economics of they are still primarily at the laboratory scale and therefore merit
further processing become favourable (Pool, 2020). However, the further research and investment to progress the methods to
risks of thermal runaway remain and there have been a number of commercial scales (Dechent et al., 2021; Edge et al., 2021).
cases of fires breaking out, even where the stockpiled batteries were Recycling LiBs presents several challenges that need to be
newly produced (Sanderson, 2021). Enhanced temperature control addressed to ensure effective and sustainable recycling processes.
in storage may mitigate these risks, but this would add significantly As the recycling processes themselves involve energy consumption,
to cost and environmental impact. emissions and waste generation, the environmental impacts of
One alternative to disposal is recycling. Many of the materials recycling may sometimes outweigh the benefits. Improving the
within a LiB are listed as critical, as they are not widely available as efficiency and yield of resource recovery processes will be crucial
natural resources (Olivetti et al., 2017). Recycling of LiBs is an to maximize the value and sustainability of recycling.
important way to recover the valuable materials within, reducing the Recycling methods rely on a range of pretreatment processes for
demand for virgin materials and the environmental impacts spent batteries, such as collection, dismantling, separation and
associated with extracting them. Recycling also reduces the risks sorting. Batteries are dispersed across various consumer products
of degraded LiBs starting fires, wherever they are disposed of. While and industries, making it challenging to collect them efficiently and
there are options for reusing batteries in second life applications, the lack of proper labelling makes it difficult to choose the most
there will ultimately be the need to recycle them. appropriate recycling pathway (Zhao et al., 2021a). Additionally,
There are four main recycling methods that are actively being batteries come in different shapes, sizes, and chemistries, requiring
researched or in use in industry: (i) pyrometallurgy, (ii) specialized and highly complex sorting systems to separate them
hydrometallurgy, (iii) biometallurgy and (iv) direct recycling. The effectively (Beaudet et al., 2020). In order to improve recycling yield,
advantages and disadvantages of each are summarised in Table 1. it is necessary to dismantle battery packs, modules and cells. This is a
The pyrometallurgical approach is versatile and fairly labour intensive, costly process and recommendations have been
straightforward to deploy and is therefore the main method made for the design of battery modules and packs to enable easier
currently deployed in industry. However, it is labour-intensive dismantling, so that recycling processes can be streamlined (Gaines
and can only extract a limited set of metals (nickel, aluminium, et al., 2018a; Thompson et al., 2020). Combined with the need for
cobalt, copper) via chemical reactions occurring at very high specialized equipment, facilities, and skilled labour, the cost of
temperatures (Dunn et al., 2012a; Gaines et al., 2018a; Chen recycling and reusing materials to make raw batteries is currently
et al., 2019a; Liu et al., 2019). This can lead to large quantities of higher than the cost of mining raw materials (Beaudet et al., 2020).
CO2 being emitted and, for some LiB cathode chemistries, can even For example, the current cost of recycling lithium has been estimated
result in a net increase of carbon emissions, as is the case for lithium to be three times the cost of mining lithium (Melin, 2019a).
iron phosphate (LFP) (Ciez and Whitacre, 2019). Hydrometallurgy Current recycling pathways mainly target the more valuable base
uses a sequence of solvent-based chemical steps (Chen et al., 2019a) metals such as cobalt, manganese, nickel and copper, relative to the
and operates at much lower temperatures than pyrometallurgy, thus less valuable lithium. Vital resources critical to LiB manufacturing,
having a lower energy consumption. However, the pre-treatment such as cobalt, are becoming prohibitively expensive, and impacted
steps of disassembly, separation and grinding are essential. This by geopolitical challenges (Harper et al., 2019a; Li et al., 2020).
method can extract a wider range of the component materials, However, one major challenge facing recycling is the need to adapt
including cathode metals, lithium and graphite and can be used in to the fast-evolving battery chemistries, particularly as EV batteries
conjunction with pyrometallurgy. An emerging alternative to pyro- have long lives of many years and sometimes decades. As cheaper
and hydrometallurgy is biometallurgy, including biomineralisation battery chemistries are developed, recycled materials become less
(Patel et al., 2021) and biological leaching or bioleaching (Ferrara profitable and may no longer be required for the production of the
et al., 2021; Biswal and Balasubramanian, 2023), which has been latest chemistries. Governmental policies are needed to drive
used successfully in the mining industry. This technique uses developments in the recycling industry, so that these potentially
bacterial or fungal microbes to either reduce metal oxides into incendiary devices do not end up in landfills.
harvestable nanoparticles or to produce the acids required to By extending the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries through reuse
leach out metals and is of particular interest for the separation of and repurposing, the immediate need for recycling is reduced,
metals such as nickel and cobalt, which are inherently difficult to lessening the environmental impact associated with recycling
separate and currently require either sequential precipitation or processes and reducing the risk of large-scale LiB disposal
extraction with organic solvents (Harper et al., 2019a). because no viable alternative pathway exists. Second life batteries
By combining all the component materials, these metallurgical (SLBs), also referred to as retired or repurposed batteries, are
approaches need additional processes to separate out the pure lithium-ion batteries that have reached the end of their primary
metals, which will then be recombined through further use in applications such as electric vehicles and renewable energy
processing to make a new battery (Dunn et al., 2012a). Direct systems (Zhu et al., 2021a). Rather than being discarded or
recycling uses a different approach, employing mechanical and immediately recycled, these batteries are repurposed in new
solvent-based separation methods to recover composite battery applications. Despite no longer meeting the requirements of their

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original intended use (usually in automotive), SLBs retain a degradation beyond this may result in the battery not being able to
significant portion of their capacity and functionality. These serve surge current drawn during acceleration. However, the 80%
batteries have many viable applications in a second life format; threshold was established in the 1990s when nickel-based batteries,
for example, to provide an energy store within our grid energy having lower energy and power densities than LiBs, were used in
networks, to complement the intermittent loading associated with most EVs. Recent studies have shown that lithium-ion EV batteries
renewable energy harvesting methods (Zhu et al., 2021a; Martinez- with 80% remaining capacity can still meet the daily travel needs of
Laserna et al., 2018). over 65% of US drivers (Saxena et al., 2015), indicating that the
However, material flow analysis highlights that there are trade- current EoL criteria may not be suitable, and that the industry
offs between the environmental benefits, economic values, and should evolve to adopt EoL criteria that match the performance
resource optimisation for SLBs. The second life pathway delays characteristics of LiBs.
the recirculation of valuable materials, whose supply chains can Defining battery EoL is challenging, but battery health
become more vulnerable to disruption given their existing supply assessment and clear EoL criteria are critical for safe operation of
risks, compared to the case of direct recycling after their first life EVs (Wenzl et al., 2005). One EoL approach proposes a multi-
(Tao et al., 2021a). dimensional EoL threshold, based on the match between the battery
Battery reuse is becoming a global priority given the and application characteristics, i.e., on how the EV is being used and
environmental impact and impetus to extract maximum value the battery’s suitability for this particular application (Arrinda et al.,
from the valuable materials used in battery manufacture: reuse 2021). However, evaluation of the EV battery’s expected
generally ranks high as a sustainable end-of-life pathway (Zhao performance is complicated by the difficulty of conducting tests
et al., 2021a). There are, at present, no universal or global standards ex situ. Ideally, the EoL criteria used for EV batteries must be
or regulations for managing end-of-life LiBs. Nations across the measurable, either through the onboard battery management system
world vary widely in their approach to balancing economic and (BMS), or through use of very simple, non-invasive, external
environmental objectives; as well as availability of technological and hardware and software. Whilst beyond the scope of this review,
recycling infrastructure. Thus, different countries frame their own battery SoH evaluation is an important requirement for extending
unique regulations and strategies for managing LiB at the end of first and optimising the first life of EV batteries.
life. For example, China has relatively strict regulations around While automotive LiBs may have exhausted their life within an
recycling and decarbonising the supply chain; while in the US, in EV and no longer meet the power demands for the primary use,
contrast, legislation to promote a circular economy in EV LiBs is these LiBs may still be viable for lower power applications, such as
lagging behind both China and the EU (Global, 2021). electric golf carts, scooters, and some industrial/commercial
vehicles. While this is still a “second life” application, the
literature tends to refer to second life as repurposing the battery
2 Second life: opportunities for a different, non-automotive application.
and pathways
EV batteries are both environmentally and economically 2.2 Repurposing applications
expensive to manufacture, therefore extending their service life
can offset these costs (Foster et al., 2014; Harper et al., 2019a). With the future annual supply of SLBs predicted to be
Although EoL batteries are no longer suitable for the power and 112–227 GWh in 2030 and the global grid storage demand
energy demands of most automotive applications, they can still be estimated at 183 GWh (Engel et al., 2019), SLBs present a
useful for grid-storage applications, which are often not restricted by significant economic and environmental opportunity to meet all
weight nor volume. Repurposing of SLBs has the potential to be less our grid storage needs (Engel et al., 2019), displacing the impacts of
expensive than deploying new batteries of equivalent performance manufacturing new batteries for these applications.
and increases the products’ useful life, enhancing the lifetime energy The rationale for deploying “retired” EV battery packs in grid
throughput as a ratio of the energy spent on manufacturing, storage applications is to extend the service life of the battery,
therefore offering an environmentally sustainable option thereby reducing costs and carbon emissions (Martinez-Laserna
supporting a circular battery economy (Jiao and Evans, 2016a; et al., 2018), when considering these over the whole battery’s lifetime
Harper et al., 2019a). By understanding the legal standards, ($/equivalent full cycle and kg CO2/equivalent full cycle) (Martinez-
pathways for repurposing, and steps to meeting those standards, Laserna et al., 2018). Additionally, extending the battery’s useful life
and addressing these aspects, we can unlock the full will delay the immediate need for recycling, allowing the battery
potential of SLBs. recycling industry time to develop. This is expected to reduce the
likelihood of illegal battery disposal. However, it will also
significantly delay access to the materials, many of which are
2.1 Defining end-of-life and challenges for valuable and critical and therefore needed to both boost the
second life recycling industry and displace the impacts of extracting raw
materials. The conflict between these two options is still being
The US Advanced Battery Consortium defines EV battery EoL debated (Gaines, 2018; Harper et al., 2019a; Dunn et al., 2021).
as the point at which the battery reaches 80% of its original rated While some retired EV battery packs retain only a small amount
capacity or 80% of its original power capability at 80% Depth of of their original capacity or power capability, they can still be viable
Discharge (Hunt, 1996). The rationale for this is a concern that for low-demand applications, which require only low current rates

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TABLE 2 Viability of each application in each sector with their capacity ranges. Green indicates that repurposed batteries are suitable for this application;
orange indicates that they are only sometimes suitable and red indicates that they are not suitable. Capacities in residential applications (e.g., homes and
apartments) typically range from 3 to 20 kWh, depending on factors such as number of occupants and building size. Capacities within the commercial
sector (buildings or spaces specifically allocated for business activities) range from 3 to 500 kWh, contingent upon the scale and energy demands of the
business. Capacities in the industrial sector (areas designated for the manufacturing and processing of goods and services) span from 500 kWh to several
megawatt-hours. Green cells indicate application areas which are deemed to be viable for SLBs, supported by academic literature and insights gained from
prior pilot programs focused on SLBs. The orange ranges indicate that a paper suggested or briefly indicated the potential viability of an SLB for a given
application. Red ranges indicate applications which are deemed to be unsuitable for SLBs, either due to unfavourable economic feasibility or the need for
excessively high C-rates. Relevant sources have been cited in place, but most ranges are summarised from the installations shown in Table 3.

Residential Commercial Industrial

Renewables 0-150 kWh 0-500 kWh 0-10 MWh Mcloughlin and Conlon (2015)
integration

Energy arbitrage 0-60 kWh 0-500 kWh N/A

Peak load shaving 0-60 kWh 500-4,500 kWh Mcloughlin and Conlon (2015) 0-4 MWh Mcloughlin and Conlon (2015)

Back-up power 0-40 kWh FAQ (2022) 0-700 kWh Mcloughlin and Conlon (2015) 0-4 MWh

Small mobility 0-15.3 kWh Montes et al. (2022a); Lamedica et al. 0-8 kWh Montes et al. (2022a), Phophongviwat et al. 11-25 kWh Jiao et al. (2021), Montes et al.
vehicles (2022) (2023) (2022a)

EV charging 0-20 kWh transportation (2022) 0-1 MWh transportation (2022) 0-5 MWh transportation (2022)

Demand response N/A 0-2 MWh 0-4 MWh

Microgrid 0.02-2 MWh Microgrids (2022) 2-6 MWh 6-20 MWh

and shallow depth of discharges. However, different grid storage grid. Currently, remote areas receive power via diesel generators;
applications have vastly different power requirements, for example, repurposed batteries could provide a cost-effective, low carbon
grid frequency modulation is significantly less demanding than any alternative for providing flexibility and reliability, maintaining
peak shaving application. Therefore, a sensible beginning-of- power quality and boosting supply during peak demand.
second-life health check can ensure repurposed batteries are used Residents in urban areas with uncertain grid infrastructure
in suitable applications (Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018). require a reliable back-up power source, particularly to preserve
The applications most suitable are those that require less food supplies and enable internet access during instances of grid
frequent battery cycling (Engel et al., 2019). The potential unreliability. Residential back-up and uninterruptible power supply
applications of repurposed batteries span scales from residential applications are suitable for repurposed battery systems. Industrial
storage through to large-scale grid support. Table 2 lists the capacity applications benefiting from this capability include data centres,
ranges required for each potential application, indicating whether medical establishments, airports, and emergency response hubs.
repurposed batteries are suitable. Residential, commercial, and Charging an EV at a residential house requires a substantial
industrial applications of repurposed batteries collectively power output, typically ranging between 20 and 60 kWh, depending
contribute to grid stability by regulating frequency and on the vehicle. Company and industrial EV charging requirements
distributing demand across extended time frames. Utility scale have surged as fleets undertake the transition to electrification.
operations require very large amounts of energy to be stored and Consequently, this and the integration of rapid charging stations
released and are less suited to repurposed batteries, due to their creates high costs and energy demands on the grid. Repurposed
reduced capacities and ongoing degradation, as well as safety batteries have proven to be a viable solution to supply surplus
concerns when operating at very high power requirements, at electricity to manage charging loads, ensuring a consistent and
C-rates (a measure of the current at which the battery is charged dependable charging experience (Montes et al., 2022a). This
or discharged) exceeding 2C (Mcloughlin and Conlon, 2015). contributes holistically to the wider adoption of EVs, as it
Peak load shaving is the grid-level practice of storing energy optimises the charging infrastructure.
when it is abundant and demand is low, then releasing it during low Pilot projects are a useful way to demonstrate the capabilities of
energy availability and high demand. This is beneficial for reducing used EV batteries and determine installation and operational
peak load, buffering the variability of grid energy demand, and logistics. To illustrate the range of second-life applications being
smoothing the intermittency of renewables, such as solar and wind considered, a select list of pilot projects is given in Table 3.
energy. Currently, peak demand is managed with expensive,
polluting reserve generators, using energy sources such as natural
gas or diesel (Hanley et al., 2009). Repurposed batteries could replace 2.3 Requirements for second life
these, but only for smaller scale applications.
Microgrids are localised electrical grids of growing importance, Retired EV batteries must undergo a series of tests to ensure that
somewhat isolated from the wider national grid, but are expected to they are suitable for second life applications. This section discusses
be integrated into the wider grid infrastructure in the future (Hanley the relevant safety standards and SoH assessment which are essential
et al., 2009). Battery energy storage systems (BESS) encourage the for determining suitability for repurposing. In some cases, whole
development of microgrids for rural villages which are scattered packs may be repurposed in a second life application, but this
across vast areas of land and can be decoupled from a centralised application may have new requirements requiring the pack to be

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TABLE 3 Pilot and commercial projects since 2012, which use second life lithium-ion batteries [updated from Reinhardt et al. (2019) and Zhu et al. (2021a)].
The information is based on press releases and may not be complete or reflect the final characteristics of installations.

OEM Partners/Service provider Cells Power/ Year Application Country

Capacity
Ford Duke energy, ITOCHU TH!nk 2 MWh 2010 Renewable power, Fast Japan, United States
charging (Indianapolis)

GM ABB Chevrolet Volt 25 kW/50 kWh 2012 Power supply, renewable United States
energy storage

Nissan Sumitomo, 4R Energy Nissan Leaf 600 kW/ 2013 Island power, Grid Japan
400 kWh services, Renewable
energy storage

Nissan Eaton, CEA, EPFL, ICTroom, Credit 2014 UPS, data centre
Suisse, University of Trento

BMW UC San Diego Mini-E 108 kW/ 2014–2017 Fast charging United States (San
180 kWh Diego)

Nissan Relectrify Nissan Leaf 60 kWh 2015 Grid services and United States,
renewable energy Australia

GM 17.1 kWh/pack 2015 Data centre, Renewable

energy storage

Toyota 2nd life battery LLC 208 Camry modules 85 kWh 2015 Renewable energy United States
(Yellowstone National
Park)

BMW Beck Automation i3 22 or 33 kWh/ 2016 Residential energy storage Canada

pack

BMW Vattenfall and Bosch ActiveE and i3 2 MW/2.8 MWh 2016 Renewable energy storage Germany (Hamburg)

Mercedes- GETEC Energie, The Mobility House, Smart fortwo 12 MW/13 MWh 2016 Recycling plant Germany (Lünen)
Benz Remondis

Nissan Amsterdam Arena 280 Nissan Leaf 5.6 MWh 2016 Back-up power Netherlands
(Amsterdam)

Renault Powervault JXTG 2017 Renewable energy storage Japan

and grid stability

Renault United Technologies Research Centre Renault Kangoo 88 kWh 2017 Renewable energy, Peak France, Italy,
Ireland, Ltd load shaving United Kingdom,
Germany

Renault City of Terni, ASM Terni Renault Kangoo 66 kWh 2017 Peak shaving, Power Italy (Terni)
quality, Grid Services,
Renewable energy

Nissan Eaton Nissan Leaf 4.2 kWh 2017 Residential energy storage United Kingdom

Nissan Gateshead College, United Technologies Nissan Leaf 48 kWh (50 kWh 2017 Research, renewable United Kingdom
Research Centre Ireland, Ltd PV capacity) energy storage (Sunderland)

Nissan 12 Nissan Leaf 192 kWh 2017 EV charging and France (Paris)
renewable energy

Nissan Eaton, The Mobility House Nissan Leaf 4 MW/4 MWh 2018 Peak shaving, back-up Netherlands
power

BMW Vattenfall i3 50 kW/12 kWh 2018 Fast charging Germany

BMW EVgo 2 i3 30 kW/44 kWh 2018 EV charging United States (Los

Angeles)

Renault Nidec, The Mobility House 50 MWh 2018 Grid storage France

Renault Connected Energy Renault Zoe 360 kWh 2018 Fast charging United Kingdom

Renault Morbihan Energies, Les Cars Bleus and 2018 Resort power France (Belle-ile-
Enedis en-Mer)

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TABLE 3 (Continued) Pilot and commercial projects since 2012, which use second life lithium-ion batteries [updated from Reinhardt et al. (2019) and Zhu
et al. (2021a)]. The information is based on press releases and may not be complete or reflect the final characteristics of installations.

OEM Partners/Service provider Cells Power/ Year Application Country

Capacity
Renault Sustainable Porto Santo—Smart Fossil Renault Zoe and 2018 Island power, smart Portugal (Porto Santo)
Free Island (Empresa de Electricidade da Kangoo Z.E. charging
Madeira, The Mobility House, Bouygues
Energies et Services, ABB)

Audi Belectric 1.9 MW/ 2018 Renewable energy, Grid United Kingdom,
22 MWh services (frequency Germany
response)

Toyota Chubu Electric power, Tokyo Electric 10 MW 2018 Power capacity, Power Japan
Power Company quality

Toyota JERA 485 kW/ 2018 Power capacity, Power Japan

1,260 kWh quality

Nissan The Mobility House, Empresa de Nissan Leaf N/A 2018 Island power Portugal
Electricidade da Madeira

Nissan Sumitomo, 4R Energy 2018 Rebuilt replacement LiBs

Toyota Seven Eleven 10 kWh/unit 2018 Back-up power

Nissan EDF Nissan Leaf 2018 Demand-side platform, United Kingdom

powershift

Volvo Group Goteborg Energi, Riksbyggen, Electric truck and bus 200 kWh 2018 Residential SLB, Germany, South
Johannesburg, Science Park batteries Renewable energy Africa

Nissan 700 Wh/device 2019 Portable ES, camping

trailers

Nissan Eaton, BAM, The Mobility House 148 Nissan Leaf (42% 3 MW/2.8 MWh 2019 Grid services Netherlands,
2nd life) (Amsterdam)

Daimler BAIC BJEV 40 MWh 2019 Second life parts storage China
unit sector

BYD Itochu 1 MWh 2019 Grid storage Australia and

Southeast Asia

BAK, China Southern Grid 0.15 MW/ 2019 Grid storage China
7.27 MWh

Renault ENGIE, Umicore 48 Renault Kangoo 1.2 MW/ 2019 Grid storage Belgium
720 kWh

Audi EnBW e-tron 2020 Grid storage Germany (Helibronn)

GM SAIC, Wulin Baojun E100 and E200 250 kW/1 MWh 2020 Grid storage China

Renault SmartHubs (Connected Energy, Moixa, Renault Kangoo, 50 kW/ 2020 Residential and business United Kingdom
PassivSystems and ICAX, Newcastle mixed old and new 14.5 MWh energy storage, four sites (West Sussex)
University, West Sussex County Council cells 70 MW/60 MWh planned
and Innovate United Kingdom)

Renault Advanced Battery Storage (Nidec, The Mixed old and new 50 MWh 2020 Residential and business France (Douai)
Mobility House, Demeter, Banque des cells energy storage, Several
Territoires) sites planned

Renault Connected Energy Renault Kangoo 360 kWh, 2020 Fast charging, renewable Belgium
720 kWh, energy, Grid storage
1.2 MWh

Renault City of Kempten, the Allgäuer 6 Renault Kangoo 95 kWh 2020 Micro-grid, renewable Germany (Kempten)
Überlandwerk GmbH energy

Toyota Eurus energy, Tokyo Electric Power Co. 1 MW/3 MWh 2020 Grid storage Japan
Holdings

Volvo Group Batteryloop Electric truck and bus 200 kWh 2020 Renewable energy, Sweden
batteries Microgrid

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TABLE 3 (Continued) Pilot and commercial projects since 2012, which use second life lithium-ion batteries [updated from Reinhardt et al. (2019) and Zhu
et al. (2021a)]. The information is based on press releases and may not be complete or reflect the final characteristics of installations.

OEM Partners/Service provider Cells Power/ Year Application Country

Capacity
Audi RWE 60 packs 4.5 MWh 2021 Renewable energy Germany (Berlin)

Renault Eco2Charge Kangoo ZE 66 kWh 2021 Renewable energy France

Mitsubishi EDF and Forsee Power Peugeot Ion, C-zero, 2022 Renewable energy France
and PSA iMiev

Mercedes- Moment energy 60 kWh 2022 Microgrid, Renewable Canada

Benz energy

Honda B2U Clarity 3 MW/12 MWh 2023 Renewable energy United States
(California)

Mercedes Batteryloop 2.8 MW/ 2023 Residential power Sweden (Gothenburg)

2.6 MWh

Mixed CleanMobilEnergy (Connected Energy, 24 EV batteries 600 kW/ 2023 V2G United Kingdom
Engie, Innovate United Kingdom, EU) 600 kWh (Nottingham)

Mercedes- Envon 26 MWh 2023 Norway

Benz

Nissan, Tesla, B2U 1,300 packs 28 MWh 2023 Grid services United States
Ford, Chevy (California)

Renault Swarco Smart Charging, Connected 24 Renault Kangoos 300 kW 2023 EV charging United Kingdom
Energy

Audi Mobility House 20 e-tron 1.25 MW/ 2023 EV charging, Grid Germany (Berlin)
1.9 MWh services

BMW UC San Diego Mini-E 100 kW/60 kWh 2023 Renewable energy United States (San
Diego)

BMW Tricera Rolls Royce 100 kWh/ 2023 Peak load shaving, EV Germany
300 kWh/ charging, renewable
2 MWh energy

Forsee Connected Energy Forsee lithium nickel 40 MWh 2024 Grid storage United Kingdom
manganese cobalt
oxide (Zen 4 and
Zen 35)

Volvo Group Connected Energy Electric truck and bus 1 MWh 2024 Grid storage, Ports United Kingdom
batteries

reconfigured. In this case, there may be further processes involved supply and market demand. Given the dynamic nature of the EV
and these are discussed in the subsequent three sections, covering battery industry and the relentless focus on design, manufacturing,
disassembly, cell selection and reconstruction. and performance breakthroughs, establishing a body to regularly
review and refine battery standards and report annually on average
2.3.1 Safety standards cost and operating benchmarks could further catalyse growth in
System robustness, intrinsically linked to safety, is an important battery deployment.
factor. Managing the potential risks stemming from an unregulated Certification processes of SLBs ensures compliance with existing
SLB market is key to its success, therefore repurposed batteries must regulations. The certification requirements for a SLB system are
meet stringent standards to ensure safe operation. These typically unclear, particularly as testing standards need to be adapted to cover
include guidelines for handling, transportation, storage, and battery systems built from used battery components, and the varying
operation of SLBs to mitigate risks associated with fire, leakage, quality of used batteries affects testing representability (Börner et al.,
and other potential hazards. Regulations and testing standards need 2022). Standards governing second life should ideally be developed
to be developed and updated (Christensen et al., 2021) and a variety in coherence with those applicable in the first life of batteries, so that
of global agencies and private-sector coalitions, consisting of companies planning to repurpose batteries perform the same set of
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and SLB companies, tests as for new batteries.
are already working on industry-wide SLB safety standards. These Currently, there no safety standards in the UK or EU specifically
standards would essentially classify batteries based on their for SLBs; however, standards covering the safety assessment of LiBs
performance potential and storage applications based on their in applications other than that of their first life (IEC 63330) and
performance needs, in order to create transparency into product high-level guidance on the safe and environmentally sound reuse of

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LiBs (IEC 63338) are being developed (Christensen et al., 2023). pairing are not covered in this review, although the broad narrative
Certain applications, such as the use of second life EV batteries as presented below would be applicable at module and cell level.
energy storage for buildings, are currently subject to extensive safety
tests. To date, safety testing of SLBs is done under the IEC 62619, 2.3.3 Evaluating battery pack state-of-health
which is the reference standard for first life batteries, setting out The second-life battery industry has an established process,
safety requirements for first life battery design, as well as tests and whereby all battery packs, once they have passed the post-auto
criteria for evaluating the resilience of batteries to external damage, battery assessment, undergo further SoH testing to determine the
such as mechanical shock or external short-circuits (IEC 62619-2, most suitable second life application. SoH is an ambiguous quantity,
2022). In the United States and Canada, safety evaluation is covered not linked to a single measurable, but rather an arbitrary, catch-all
under UL 1974 (UL, 1974, 2018), specifically developed for state parameter describing the performance of the battery, typically
repurposed batteries. as a percentage of its beginning of life performance. SoH can be as
Regulations requiring data included in the BMS to be openly simple as examining the capacity fade–i.e., what capacity (measured
accessible are needed, as this information is essential to facilitate in Ampere-hours) of the battery remains accessible, compared to
repurposing of batteries, allowing for greater streamlining of the that at beginning of life. On the other hand, SoH may consider
processes. Key performance indicators, such as the internal power fade, indicated through the increase in battery pack
resistance, charging/discharging history, occurrence and resistance. The United Nations have established the State of
frequency of high temperature events, among others, enable Certified Energy (SOCE) metric to define an EV battery’s
rapid identification of those packs, modules, and cells retaining capability to store energy at a point in its lifecycle, as a ratio of
sufficient capability to be considered for second life use. Analysis of its beginning of life energy storage capacity; this correlates directly to
this data can avoid the need for extensive testing and thus the reduction in driving range. This section introduces processes to
dramatically reduce the costs of repurposing. define SoH for EV battery packs and discusses the suitability and
Specific performance standards need to be met, in order to select applicability of each.
and certify the suitability of repurposed battery cells for their new The wide range of second-life applications means that the
applications. These standards define parameters such as capacity, requirements vary enormously. Moreover, each battery will have
efficiency, and cycle life, which determine the battery’s ability to a unique SoH state, taking into consideration all viable degradation
store and release energy effectively. mechanisms, and the range of operational characteristics that it may
have been exposed to in its first life. Consequently, the optimisation
2.3.2 Safety checks on whole packs of battery selection for a given second life application is highly
Several processes may occur between the end-of-first-life and complex. SoH evaluation methods must be able to paint a broad
beginning-of-second-life, including SoH characterization, picture of expected performance (through capacity fade and power
disassembly, and remanufacture, as depicted in Figure 1. As fade), as well as highlight any potential issues, particularly those
disassembly and further processing diminishes the economic associated with safety and thermal runaway.
benefits of repurposing (see Section 3), there is a strong Simple beginning-of-second-life SoH checks will provide
preference for the full battery pack to be immediately deployed sufficient data for determining the sizing requirements of an SLB
in a second-life application, where possible. battery pack to meet the second life energy and power specifications
The first step is removal from the EV chassis, so that a post-auto (Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018; Lam et al., 2022). The capability to
battery assessment can be performed, to assess the suitability of the examine a battery ex situ and in specialised testing centres means
battery pack for a second-life application. Processes vary from case that more in-depth SoH evaluation methods become viable, in order
to case, but typically this assessment would include: to gain the best picture of the battery’s expected future performance
(Warner, 2015a).
1. Visual inspection for damage; Noura et al. (2020) split SoH estimation methods into three
2. Ensuring functionality in charge and discharge; groups: Experimental Methods, Model-based Methods and Machine
3. Complete characterization at battery pack level. Learning Methods, as summarised in Figure 2. Experimental
methods employ empirical methods to extract performance
Results from the post-auto battery assessment are used to characteristics from the battery. The data may be used directly to
determine suitability for immediate deployment in a second-life indicate SoH (such as accessible capacity), or data processing may
application. If the battery pack passes the post-auto battery extract indirect parameters of the battery, such as resistance.
assessment, further SoH tests will be conducted to optimise the Experimental methods are widely employed and provide an
deployment in a second-life application (see Section 2.3.3). If the excellent oversight of the battery’s performance. However, they
battery pack fails the post-auto battery assessment, then further do not offer scope to evaluate far beyond the symptoms of
disassembly would occur to assess the health of individual modules degradation. Modelling methods are predictive, but can be
within the pack or, in extreme cases, individual cells within each verified through empirical measurements, and have the capability
module. The intention here is to recycle as many modules and/or to offer more detail on the expected degradation modes and
cells from the pack as possible, whilst accepting that some modules mechanisms, rather than just the symptoms of degradation
and/or cells are degraded beyond any useful second-life application. (Dechent et al., 2021). Modelling methods may run alongside the
Individual modules and/or cells that are still useful for second- battery pack throughout its first life or may be used to assess
life applications would typically be paired with other modules/cells historical data, usually taken from the BMS. Increasingly,
that have been degraded to a similar extent. The processes for this machine learning methods are being employed alongside

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FIGURE 2
State-of-health (SoH) estimation methods.

experimental or modelling methods. Companies such as Accure counting, a procedure consisting of a full, constant current discharge
GmBH evaluate enormous volumes of real-world data to observe (usually at 1°C and 25°C) to record the amount of charge that passes
trends in battery performance, based upon certain operational from the battery and comparing that to its initial rated charge
characteristics (such as the ambient conditions in their country capacity. Coulomb counting, however, does not define the dominant
of use, or EV driving style). degradation mode, and provides no insight into the degradation
Capacity and power fade are indicators of battery health and can mechanism that has led to a reduction in capacity. As a result, used
be used to estimate future runtime and performance throughout its alone, Coulomb counting provides limited insight into the expected
second life, essential for any stakeholder to choose a repurposed future performance of the battery, which is critical for SLB
battery over a newly manufactured one. As such, it is essential to be assignment (Montes et al., 2022a).
able to predict the further degradation of the battery, i.e., the Incremental Capacity Analysis or Differential Voltage Analysis
continued impact on capacity and power fade. Ramoni and are SoH diagnostic techniques that predict capacity fade and can
Zhang (Ramoni and Zhang, 2013) predict that SLBs (beginning identify specific degradation modes and degradation mechanisms by
at a capacity equivalent to 70%–80% of its beginning of life capacity) tracking changes in voltage response throughout the battery’s
can last 5–10 years in grid-storage applications, although (Zhu et al., lifetime, for example, lithium plating (Campbell et al., 2019),
2021a) warn that these numbers rely on being able to detect faults in which can then be used to approximate capacity fade (Wang
cells within the battery pack. However, since the most cost-effective et al., 2017). Hence, in order for second-life assignment processes
way to repurpose “retired” battery packs is to do so with minimal to make more thorough evaluations of the risks of future
intervention, i.e., without tearing the packs down to cell or even performance failure, and future catastrophic failure, there is a
module level, cell-level testing is not usually feasible. need for the battery’s history to be included in open access
Capacity fade is a consequence of a degraded battery caused by battery passports. The vision for a digital battery passport (GBA,
one (or a combination) of three degradation modes: (i) loss of active 2022) is a log containing a range of information about the battery,
material (LAM), (ii) stoichiometric drift and/or (iii) loss of lithium such as material composition, performance characteristics and safe
inventory (LLI) (Neubauer and Pesaran, 2011a). The simplest and disassembly instructions, which is useful to all stakeholders in the
most effective way of determining capacity fade is through Coulomb battery supply chain. Including the cycling history of the battery

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of EIS data). This technique requires expensive equipment to allow

extremely high precision measurements. Additionally, simultaneous
EIS measurements on cells in a battery pack can lead to crosstalk
interference with neighboring cells, causing inaccurate results
(Raijmakers et al., 2016). Battery packs will need to be
dismantled to enable accurate measurements to be carried out at
the cell level. This is not a viable option for second-life assessment
of batteries.
SoH characterisation is essential for assessing suitability for
second-life use and optimisation of how the battery is used by
the BMS in the new application. The challenge lies in selecting
appropriate methods that are effective in single cell/laboratory
experimentation and scaling them to be viable for EV battery
testing, so that whole packs can be tested without disassembly.
The selection of a suitable SoH characterization method is also
dependent on resource (specialist equipment is required for many
FIGURE 3
methods) and, crucially, the expected second life application. It is
Simple example of an Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy imperative that research continues into understanding the
plot used alongside an appropriate Equivalent Circuit Model to
consequence of certain degradation mechanisms/modes in the
determine resistance mechanisms and parameters, CPE represents
constant phase elements for the Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) performance of LiBs during second-life applications. This will
and charge transfer mechanisms. allow the industry to develop characterization methods that focus
on those degradation signatures that are most relevant for predicting
second-life performance–an important first step in scaling the
during its use would enable effective decision-making for the second-life industry.
battery’s end-of-life pathway. Without adequate fault detection at cell level, early onset of pack
Ren et al. (2019) have shown that a lithium-ion cell’s thermal EoL is unpredictable, as even a single faulty cell can overheat and risk
stability is most compromised when a large amount of lithium the pack’s integrity, presenting a significant risk to the ongoing
plating has occurred (typically associated with cold temperature operational robustness and safe operation of the battery pack. This
fast-charging at high state of charge), whilst the thermal stability of places a significant barrier to adoption of SLBs and so predictive
lithium-ion cells that have spent their first life at elevated diagnostics must play a key part in the future development of viable
temperatures is actually improved, because of the accelerated second life grid storage applications.
growth of the Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) layer (Börner
et al., 2017). This further supports the criticality of having
historical data which includes thermal conditions, tracked and 2.4 Pack degradation grading
openly accessible through concepts like a battery passport.
Further SoH understanding can be gained from observing the A standardized process for grading any EV battery for second-
power fade of the battery. Internal cell impedance increase is the life applications does not yet exist in the UK or EU. However, in the
most prominent reason for power fade and is caused by the US and Canada, the UL 1974 (Standard for Evaluation for
resistance of the lithium-ion cell increasing during lifetime Repurposing Batteries) processes are being developed (UL, 1974,
operation. Resistance increase causes increased overpotential 2018). For example, 4R Energy Corp, a joint venture between Nissan
during an excitation of the battery, i.e., whenever charge is and Sumitomo Corporation and a market leader in second-life
passing through the cell. The overpotential can be characterized battery technology, grades EoL Nissan LEAF batteries into four
using techniques such as galvanostatic intermittent titration, where a categories, as listed below.
battery is subjected to constant current pulses and the resulting
change in battery voltage is recorded. Through Ohm’s law, the real- • Grade A—battery shows little signs of degradation and could
time cell resistance can be extracted directly (Kim et al., 2022). be reused in a new EV.
Galvanostatic intermittent titration techniques provide good insight • Grade B—battery shows some signs of degradation but can
of the total battery resistance, as well as measuring the complex still be repurposed for most second-life applications, for
impedance, if used alongside model-based methods where the example, stationary energy storage.
voltage response is fitted to equivalent circuit models (ECM) • Grade C—battery is heavily degraded but still functional. They
(LeBel et al., 2022). However, galvanostatic intermittent titration are typically deployed in backup power systems (Hill, 2021).
cannot isolate the constituent components of resistance, and • Grade D—battery is unsuitable for any second-life
therefore cannot relate power fade back to degradation mechanisms. applications and should be recycled.
Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) is able to isolate
the individual components of resistance within a cell, thus helping to The 4R Energy Corp grading process is simplistic and qualitative
identify specific degradation mechanisms. EIS consists of passing a but does provide a basic framework around which quantitative SoH
small alternating voltage or current at various frequencies through a testing processes should be constructed. There is a wealth of
battery and analyzing the response signal (see Figure 3 for example, knowledge and understanding of how the SoH of a single cell

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can be accurately determined; the current challenge for the battery When repurposing batteries, it is crucial to assess the
industry is to scale this SoH testing to be widely suitable for full compatibility of the original battery chemistry with the target
battery packs, so that such a grading system can be application. Different battery chemistries, such as LFP, lithium
effectively informed. nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC), and lithium nickel cobalt
aluminium oxide (NCA), exhibit distinct performance
characteristics and varying limitations. These include energy
2.5 Pack disassembly density, power density, cycle life, and thermal stability. Matching
the chemistry to the specific requirements of the repurposed
When a pack is unsuitable for direct reuse, due to either application is essential to maximize performance and safety
degradation or safety issues (see Section 2.3.2) or application (Warner, 2015b). Finding a chemistry that aligns with the
requirements, it can be refurbished to varying degrees, ranging specific requirements of the repurposed application can be
from replacement of faulty cells to complete disassembly, or challenging. Incompatible chemistry matching may result in
combining multiple battery packs to create larger storage systems. suboptimal performance, safety risks, and introduce complexity
Battery pack disassembly includes the removal of the pack cover, in battery management.
BMS and thermal management components, electronic parts and, Voltage and capacity matching with the target application is vital
finally, the modules and cells. Recently, increasing concerns have and ensures reliable operation. Incompatible voltage levels or
been raised regarding efficient battery disassembly processes. In significant variations in capacity can result in inefficient energy
particular, the large variety of pack designs and structural transfer and potential safety risks. Aligning the voltage and capacity
components, such as welded parts and strong structural glues, characteristics ensures seamless integration and reliable operation
impede streamlined and fast disassembly (Harper et al., 2019a; within the intended system. Repurposing batteries with similar levels
Thompson et al., 2020; Lander et al., 2023). Facilitating and of aging and degradation ensures better compatibility in terms of
accelerating the disassembly process is key to be able to cope performance and operational characteristics.
with the large amount of EoL batteries expected in the coming Considerable research (in the academic and industrial R&D
decades. Here, alternative design approaches such as clip fasteners or sectors) is focused on the development of new, sophisticated BMS
easily separable tapes as well as standardised battery packs could processes, enabling enhanced diagnostics and monitoring
solve these obstacles. Ultimately, the partial or full automation of capabilities that will improve the performance and safety of
battery disassembly is an important step towards a time-efficient and repurposed batteries. Inexhaustibly, such systems in development
cost-effective disassembly process (Hellmuth et al., 2021; Lander can detect and manage battery degradation to a greater degree (Offer
et al., 2023). et al., 2016), monitor load imbalance across the battery packs
Battery cells recovered from disassembled packs can be subjected (Naguib et al., 2021), or identify potential faults before they
to various operational conditions and stress tests to assess their become safety critical (Zhao et al., 2024). All this will lead
behaviour and ongoing safety and performance in real-world towards greater confidence in future generations of BMS,
applications. Thorough processes for cell selection ensures that meaning the repurposed battery may be used more expansively,
only EoL battery cells having acceptable energy storage capabilities, taking greater load, and operated with reduced safety factors before
minimal degradation, and satisfactory safety characteristics are its end-of-life is declared (Montes et al., 2022a). Implementing
repurposed. Based on their condition and performance, cells need intelligent energy storage controls that adapt to the
to be sorted and graded into different categories. This ensures that characteristics and limitations of repurposed batteries can
battery cells with similar characteristics are used together in their optimize their operation. These controls can optimize charge/
second-life application, and that the applications for the battery cells is discharge rates, manage thermal considerations, and maximize
selected appropriately. First, the battery cells’ fundamental battery lifespan.
characteristics must be matched–this considers chemistry, voltage Developing and following a structured approach that includes
and capacity–misalignment of these fundamentals will mean an careful selection, testing, sorting, repurposing processes, testing and
unbalanced second-life energy storage system (Montes et al., validation, documentation, and environmental considerations, SLB
2022a). Next, battery cells with similar states of degradation must projects can successfully meet legal standards and contribute to a
be considered, to ensure the grouped battery cells operate effectively more sustainable energy future.
with one another. (Montes et al., 2022a).
Integration with suitable energy management systems, such as a
BMS, is essential to monitor and control the performance of 3 Economics of second life applications
repurposed battery packs effectively. Once battery packs are
reconstructed, they must undergo rigorous testing and validation Energy stored on energy invested (ESOI) is a measure of the
to verify their compliance with the safety and performance returns from a battery’s useful life over the energy spent on
standards discussed in Section 2.3.1. Comprehensive manufacturing the battery. It is widely used in industry to
documentation would be required throughout the repurposing measure the effectiveness of an energy storage technology. For
process to demonstrate compliance with any future legal EoL batteries used in a second life application, their energy
standards that may arise. Detailed records of battery selection, stored on energy invested will be higher than that of a newly
test results, sorting criteria, repurposing procedures, and any manufactured battery.
modifications made during the process aid in ensuring From an economic point of view, second life competes with
traceability and compliance. battery recycling and the purchase of new batteries and effective

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FIGURE 5
Cost of battery disassembly (in $/kWh) showing the individual
cost of each step and the cumulative cost up to the respective
disassembly stage. Reprinted with permission from Rallo et al. Resour.
Conserv. Recycl. 159, 104785, 2020.

FIGURE 4
Summary of the costs involved in the refurbishment of EV
batteries from the collection to the selling. Reprinted from Martinez-
Laserna et al. Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev. 93, 701–718, 2018. 3.2 Testing and refurbishment costs

According to available literature on SLBs (Haram et al., 2021a),

business models are crucial for the SLB market to thrive. For second refurbishment costs range from $12/kWh to $50/kWh (Cready et al.,
life to be financially viable, the sum of the buying price and 2003; Neubauer et al., 2012a; Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018). The
refurbishment costs of SLBs would need to be lower than largest contribution to refurbishment costs comes from buying the
purchasing a new battery. battery (Figure 4) (Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018; Zhao et al., 2021a).
Furthermore, labour costs make up to 13% of the total refurbishment
cost, with the most labour-intense processes being SoH assessment
3.1 Second lifes vs. new batteries and disassembly. A study by Neubauer et al. (2015) has shown that the
incurred labour cost for testing varies significantly with the length of
The attractiveness of SLBs depends on the price margin between the testing protocol, the handling time, and the size of the battery (in
SLBs and new batteries. Only if the price difference is large enough, the study, module level was assumed).
will deploying a used battery instead of a new one be justified. The Disassembly costs depend on the intended application and
market value of SLBs depends on the remaining capacity and overall required disassembly level. For instance, in some cases, the
performance, the battery chemistry, the intended second life battery might be used as is; in other cases, it might be necessary
application, and the predicted lifetime/defined EoL for second life to disassemble the battery down to cell level, or only to module level.
(Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018; Sun et al., 2018). The longer the SLB Figure 5 highlights that the case for each additional disassembly step
lifetime, the higher its value (Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018). becomes increasingly harder to justify (Rallo et al., 2020). The
Trading price estimations for SLBs vary across studies and benefit of identifying and replacing the most degraded module
timeframes, from $38/kWh up to $300/kWh (Cready et al., 2003; and/or cell must be justified against the additional incurred cost
Neubauer et al., 2012a; Melin, 2019a; Kamath et al., 2020a). Overall, and, at a certain point, immediate recycling becomes the better
the SLB price is predicted to fall caused by a larger market supply of economic decision. A study by Alfaro-Algaba and Ramirez (2020)
SLBs and the decreasing cost of new batteries (Engel et al., 2019; presents a framework to evaluate the optimal disassembly stage or
Zhao et al., 2021a). It is estimated that, by 2025, SLBs will have a “disassembly stopping point”, with regards to economic and
price advantage of 30%–70%, compared to new LiBs (Engel et al., environmental benefits. Calculations on when the disassembly
2019). However, due to the price of new batteries declining faster process reached its financial and environmental peak include the
than for SLBs, this price margin could decrease to 25% (Melin, total economic gain minus the disassembly costs and the
2019a; Kamath et al., 2020a). Similarly, Sun et al. (2018) have shown environmental impact avoided by not disposing of components,
that whilst the price of SLBs is expected to significantly decrease minus the environmental impact caused by disassembly processes
until 2025, the SLB cost will eventually plateau and the price (Alfaro-Algaba and Ramirez, 2020).
advantage of SLBs compared to new batteries will reduce.
Overall, the buying price of SLBs and the refurbishment costs
should be low enough to make profit from selling SLBs below the 3.3 Second life vs. recycling
price of new LiBs. Therefore, if SLB prices or refurbishment costs
cannot be further reduced, this option might become less attractive To economically justify second life applications, the profit
in the future and buying new LiBs might prevail. made from SLBs should outweigh the recycling profit, otherwise

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would help to obtain a more realistic scenario of the impact of

second life on the EV upfront cost.

3.5 Opportunities to increase second life

battery profit
To maintain profitability for the SLB pathway, various strategies
can be followed: i) SoH assessment has been shown to be highly
labour- and thus cost-intensive. Avoiding these costs by using
battery passports might be a potential way of reducing
refurbishment costs. ii) Further, costs associated with collection
and transportation of EoL batteries or SLBs can be reduced by
keeping logistics local, i.e., setting up a refurbishment plant close to
an EoL collection site (Neubauer et al., 2015). iii) Labour cost is a
FIGURE 6 significant cost factor in the refurbishment phase. Here, SLBs might
Quantity sold into second-life applications under different
recycling net credit scenarios, shown in comparison to the total used be lucrative either using automated refurbishment processes (Zhao
EV batteries produced. Reprinted with permission from Sun et al. et al., 2021a; Zhu et al., 2021a). Generally, easier to disassemble
J. Energy Storage 19, 41–51, 2018.
battery packs would further reduce the refurbishment costs.

4 Environmental considerations for

it would be more attractive to immediately recycle EoL batteries. second life applications
Recycling profits strongly depend on the recycling efficiency, cost
of recycling processes, economies of scale, and the value of the There are environmental benefits to repurposing batteries, but
recovered materials (Sun et al., 2018; Lander et al., 2023). there may also be drawbacks. Increasing the service life of LiBs
Especially with new legislations requiring EoL batteries to be reduces the overall life cycle environmental impact from battery
recycled as well as for new LiBs to contain a minimum amount of manufacturing (Jiao and Evans, 2016a; Harper et al., 2019a), and
recycled material, an increase in recycling profits is predicted. second life use displaces the impacts from manufacturing a new
This, combined with a decreasing cost margin between SLBs and battery of similar capacity (Haram et al., 2021a). However, there is
new LiBs, renders the SLB option less attractive. Sun et al. (2018) an argument for recycling batteries containing cobalt immediately,
have shown in their SLB sales simulations that, compared to a without extending their already long lives further through second
predicted recycling profit of $45/kWh in 2050, the profit margin life use (Harper et al., 2019a). This would serve to recover cobalt
for SLBs with an assumed refurbishment cost of $20/kWh and a faster, displacing the impacts through extraction of their ores and,
sales price of <$50/kWh, is too low and eventually SLB sales will since cobalt is a valuable material, enabling profitability for the
stop (Figure 6). developing recycling industry. This argument could also apply to
other high impact materials, such as nickel, the conflict between
these two options is still being debated (Gaines, 2018; Harper et al.,
3.4 Impact of second life on the price of 2019a; Dunn et al., 2021).
new batteries The processes of disassembly and remanufacture for second
life use also add environmental burdens, although these are
Reusing retired batteries would increase the salvage value of a considered to be much smaller than those for manufacturing
battery that otherwise would be at the disposal stage which, in turn, new batteries (Cicconi et al., 2012b). Several studies have
would decrease the upfront cost of such batteries when the EV is analysed the environmental benefits of SLBs. (Haram et al.,
purchased (Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018). According to studies by 2021a) lists excessive use of raw materials, water and
(Neubauer and Pesaran, 2011a; Neubauer et al., 2012a) a discount of electricity which contribute to CO 2 emissions. (Dunn et al.,
2.2%–25% on the upfront cost would be possible, depending on the 2023) found repurposing and reuse to be favoured overall, but
assumptions made in the cost model such as initial battery costs, they do not account for the impacts of the delayed recycling
repurposing costs, and the SoH of the battery. However, as battery opportunity. The study by (Kamath et al., 2020a) compared EV
prices continue to fall annually (Nykvist and Nilsson, 2015), battery fast-charging using power from the grid to that from BESS using
costs represent a decreasing share of the total EV upfront costs. second life LiBs, in terms of economic cost and life cycle
Thus, even considering that battery second life use may produce an environmental impact in five U.S. cities. The results are
appealing reduction of the upfront cost, it might be insufficient to presented in Figure 7 below. Compared to using new batteries,
change the overall EV costs significantly and to be a disruptive factor they found that SLB reduced the global warming potential
in favour of faster EV adoption (Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018). Note (GWP) by up to 77% (Kamath et al., 2020a).
that the relationship between EV OEM and the buyer of the SLB Kamath et al. (2020b) also showed that, compared to using new
should be specified, i.e., is the original seller paid the salvage value or batteries, combining SLBs with renewable energy sources can further
not. Taking into consideration current practices in these models reduce the GWP of the fast-charging system by reducing the grid

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among the costliest components of EVs and a rich storehouse of

many critical technology metals, will be necessary.
A central aim of product regulation is to maximise safety and
minimise human and environmental harm. Although reuse offers
promising opportunities for maximising battery value and revenues,
widespread EV battery repurposing also carries potential safety risks
which need to be mitigated by regulation. Equally important is
proper stewardship and recovery of valuable battery materials at the
end of life, given the rising threats to future supplies of critical
minerals for ongoing manufacture. This section briefly outlines the
current UK regulatory framework for EV batteries and discusses the
need for more comprehensive and considered regulation to address
the challenges of battery second life.

FIGURE 7
5.1 UK battery regulations:
Global warming potential (GWP) for each configuration at present landscape
100 kW charging power for five U.S. Cities [DET, Detroit; LA, Los
Angeles; NYC, New York City; PHX, Phoenix; POR, Portland. Adapted
from Kamath et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 6878–6887, 2020. The primary EU regulations for batteries and end-of-life EV
batteries were, until August 2023, contained in the Batteries
Directive 2006 (2006/66/EC) (European Parliament, 2006b)
and the End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Directive (2000/53/EC)
electricity use, the reduction amount depending on the location and (European Parliament, 2000). Although the EU has, in August
the charging power of the system. Casals et al. (2015) described how 2023, repealed the 2006 Batteries Directive and replaced it with
battery usage is only advisable in association with renewable energy the new Batteries Regulation (European Parliament, 2023), the
sources, with a reduction of 32% GWP when EV batteries are reused UK has yet to change or update its battery regulatory frameworks
in island installation, compared with using new lead-acid batteries. (at the time of writing). As new EU regulations no longer
Cicconi et al. (2012b) considered the environmental performance of automatically apply in a post-Brexit UK, the Waste Batteries
an EV battery when repurposed in a smart grid providing peak and Accumulator Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/890), which
management, power quality and reliability services, comparing this transposed the 2006 EU Directive into UK national law, still
to an EV battery which is disposed of after automotive use. They remains in force in the United Kingdom.
assumed that disassembly and remanufacturing impacts are The 2006 EU Batteries Directive and the UK’s 2009 Waste
negligible and accounted for the reduced efficiency of SLBs, as Batteries and Accumulator Regulation were drafted well before the
well as replacements needed to ensure that the SLB services the rise of EV and LiB technologies, leaving unaddressed a number of
whole application lifespan, finding that second life use resulted in a particular challenges raised by these technologies, which was one of
25% reduction in GWP (Cicconi et al., 2012b). Ioakimidis et al. the concerns that prompted the EU to replace the 2006 Directive
(2019) performed a similar study for the use of an LFP EV battery for with the 2023 Batteries Regulation (European Parliament, 2023).
supplying electricity to buildings, finding a potential 15% reduction The new EU Batteries Regulation (Regulation 2023/1542), which
in GWP when the EV battery is used to store energy from solar emphasises measures for sustainable battery value chains, were first
panels, compared with manufacture of a new LFP battery. A study published as proposals in 2020 (European Parliament, 2020),
by Richa et al. (2017) showed that the benefits of repurposing EV provisionally agreed in January 2023, approved by the European
batteries for another 5–7 years, compared to manufacturing and Parliament on 14 June 2023 (European Parliament Press Release,
installing new lead-acid batteries, could reduce the gross energy 2023) and came into force in August 2023.
demand and GWP by 15%–70% (Richa et al., 2017). However, The Regulations introduce, amongst a raft of other changes, a
authors did not consider battery collection, refurbishment, and separate distinct category for EV batteries (under the previous
transportation, which would increase the environmental impacts Batteries Directive 2006, EV batteries fell under the category of
(Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018). Retrieval after second life could be “industrial batteries” rather than automotive batteries due to
particularly difficult, if that second life is in a developing country definitional oddities). The Regulations also set requirements for
which has no recycling infrastructure. critical materials recovery, access to BMS data and the introduction
of battery passports from 2027. A battery passport, or digital
representation of the battery, will convey information about its
5 Policy history, ESG and lifecycle requirements, thus improving
transparency and information-sharing across the battery value
The rising global uptake of electric mobility is undoubtedly chain. It is hoped that these changes will facilitate sustainable
beneficial for environmental and climate change goals, but it is end-of-life management, as well as help make sounder decisions
equally crucial to be aware of, and mitigate, the associated costs of about battery use, reuse and safety testing. Although the new
this transition. Effective governance and regulatory mechanisms to regulations do introduce some regulatory safeguards for second
ensure appropriate end-of-life management of batteries, which are use (which were missing altogether from the previous Directive), it is

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questionable whether these go far enough to comprehensively turbines similarly require large quantities of these materials.
address significant risks from battery repurposing. Therefore, the global shift to electric mobility and green
The 2023 EU batteries regulations have, as mentioned earlier, no technologies is predicted to lead to a massive surge in critical
applicability in a post-Brexit UK, which will remain governed by the minerals demand (Kim, 2021). Recognising the significance of this
2009 legislation until this is replaced by new UK-specific legislation. issue, the UK Government in 2022 published its first ever Critical
However, it is doubtful that the UK automotive industry will want to Minerals Strategy (HM Government, 2022a) which emphasises the
deviate noticeably from EU batteries regulations, given that the EU is need to bolster domestic production of technology minerals through
one of its largest markets. The UK government’s Department for both increased mining and circular economy strategies for critical
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), is, at the time of materials recovery. This will be supported by the newly established
writing, carrying out consultations and has commissioned research UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (UKCMIC) (HM
to revise UK batteries regulation, but there is no clarity yet about Government, 2022b) which will analyse stocks and flows of critical
when this process will be completed (Grobler, 2022). A number of minerals. It is crucially important, therefore, that second life
regulatory gaps continue to surround LiB repurposing operations in operations are carefully steered to ensure recovery of battery minerals.
the United Kingdom. For reasons outlined below, is crucial that UK Materials stewardship for vehicles and components has so far
regulators act swiftly to ensure proper governance frameworks are in been enshrined in UK batteries regulation through the 2009 Waste
place before large volumes of EV batteries “retire” and are deployed Batteries Regulations, wherein producers are required to meet
into unregulated second use or repurposing. battery take-back and recycling targets. Additionally, the ELV
Directive obliges vehicle manufacturers to take back 85% (by
weight) of the products they place on the market to reuse,
5.2 Regulating to ensure safer repurposing recycle or remanufacture (European Parliament, 2006a). These
regulations impose principles of Extended Producer
Some analysts describe BESS as one of the most important Responsibility (EPR) on vehicle manufacturers. EPR is a
emerging risks today (Hesler and Travers, 2019), and the potential regulatory tool by which manufacturers of certain polluting
for fire and explosions have already been outlined previously in this products are required to also take responsibility for their end-of-
article. Worryingly, there is at present little clarity about specific life management. Interestingly, reuse counts towards the fulfilment
standards for LiB design at first use in the United Kingdom, let alone of EPR targets, which suggests that producer obligations are
for repurposed LiBs. discharged at the point at which the EV battery is repurposed,
The 2023 EU Battery Regulations aim to address this gap by but this raises a difficult question: who presently bears the
introducing a number of safety stipulations around safety testing responsibility for that battery when it leaves that second life or
and reporting. Of particular ongoing concern for LiB repurposing, repurposed use (Dawson et al., 2021)? The ELV Directive
however, is the inadequacy of regulation or standards around regulations only applies to vehicles, so if an EV battery is put
domestic LiB installations for energy storage (this issue still into a different form of second use or into a different product
remains unaddressed in the new EU Regulations). The significant via repurposing (e.g., energy storage), it would be difficult to argue
risk to domestic premises and human life demands strong that these regulations would still apply. If UK regulation remains
safeguards, so it is unfortunate that the new regulations make no unclear on questions of ownership and responsibility for repurposed
specific reference to domestic installation and maintenance (Ahuja batteries, this opens the risk of significant numbers of batteries
et al., 2021a). While such specific safeguards may have been seen as getting “lost” or disappearing at the end of second life and
unnecessary before the rise of electric mobility, because owners of a consequently never making it back to the recycling or materials
BESS would earlier have usually been companies with specialist recovery phase (Ahuja et al., 2021a). Similar uncertainties surround
expertise, these repurposed batteries can now be bought by property questions about liabilities flowing back to the vehicle or battery
developers, councils or other parties with limited understanding of manufacturers, were repurposed batteries to fail or cause injury or
LiB hazards or how to manage them. This regulatory gap could, in damage (Elkind, 2014).
the future, have potentially disastrous consequences for residents, A further important question (at least in the short-term) is
neighbours, and bystanders (Ahuja et al., 2021a). Regulations to whether LiB repurposing facilitates or hinders sustainability goals. It
ensure safety testing for battery repurposing, as well as guidelines for is generally accepted that reuse ranks as superior to recycling in
safe installation and maintenance of repurposed batteries, are a traditional waste management principles, as illustrated by the EU
crucial prerequisite to such operations in the United Kingdom. waste management hierarchy. (European Commission, 2005).
Undoubtedly, LiB repurposing offers opportunities to maximise
battery lifetime and value, and thus to improve the economics of
5.3 A sustainable value chain for repurposed EoL. However, given the worries around critical mineral supplies for
lithium-ion batteries LiB manufacture, it is also important to remain mindful that locking
up LiBs in several additional years of second use will inevitably delay
Another major question that remains unanswered in the new their recycling. This, in turn, would delay the recirculation of
EU Regulations is about who owns and bears responsibility for valuable metals (Tao et al., 2021a), whose supply chains can
batteries that go into second use: a crucial question from the become more vulnerable to disruption in the near future. The
standpoint of battery circular economy as well as legal liability. World Economic Forum of 2023 has raised concerns about
Electric vehicles typically use six times more critical minerals than future global economic warfare over battery minerals in the
traditional automotives, and other green technologies such as wind coming decade (World Economic Forum, 2023). Although the

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new EU regulations (while acknowledging recycling trade-offs) seem performance, enabling better selection and matching of
keen to support repurposing, further research is imperative. Future repurposed batteries with suitable applications. This includes the
policy around repurposing must be informed by life cycle analysis development of non-destructive testing methods and standardized
and economic modelling; regulatory frameworks for repurposing protocols for evaluating the remaining capacity, internal resistance,
must focus on using critical resources to best advantage (Ahuja and other relevant parameters of SLBs. A particular focus should be
et al., 2021a). placed on the suitability of health diagnostic methods at battery pack
There is a danger that many of the environmental gains from the level, because the cost associated with dismantling a battery pack to
transition to EVs will be lost if the UK fails to manage EV LiBs run cell-level diagnostic methods renders many 2nd life applications
effectively at the end of their useful life. An Insight report by the non-viable. In particular, access to the data stored within the battery
Faraday Institution (Lee and Gifford, 2020) recommends a high level management system and through battery passports will facilitate
regulatory and policy framework for LiB reuse to include clear end-of-life decision-making, repurposing and recycling processes
regulation for safety and a battery circular economy, including the more cost-effective, safer and more sustainable.
influencing of business ownership models (e.g., battery leasing
schemes (Ahuja et al., 2020)) to facilitate recycling and second use.
Clear regulations and standards are a prerequisite to widespread 6.3 Battery design
EV LiB second use. Sound regulation will need to balance safety and
sustainability considerations while negotiating trade-offs between There is a need for battery packs to be designed with EoL
wider economic and environmental constraints. requirements in mind, referred to as eco-design or Design for
Disassembly, which will simplify refurbishment, repurposing and
recycling processes. The use of reversible fastening mechanisms will
6 Current outlook and challenges reduce disassembly times and modular battery pack configurations
will allow for easier replacement of individual cells or modules,
The current outlook for second-life batteries is promising, with extending the overall lifespan of the battery system. The
increasing interest and research focused on their repurposing development of standardized battery interfaces and
potential. As the demand for energy storage solutions continues to communication protocols will enable seamless integration of
grow, repurposing batteries offers a cost-effective and sustainable repurposed batteries into various battery storage systems,
option. Improving and accelerating progress in second life pathways regardless of the original battery manufacturer or chemistry.
will lead to increased efficiency, reduced environmental impact, and
wider adoption of sustainable energy storage solutions. However,
there are crucial challenges to overcome with engineering, economics 6.4 Circular economy
and policy, requiring greater collaboration among researchers, battery
manufacturers, and stakeholders to develop industry-wide standards Establishing a robust battery recycling infrastructure will
and best practices for battery repurposing, promoting consistency, promote the recovery and reuse of valuable materials from EoL
interoperability, and safety across different sectors and applications. batteries and reduce the reliance on raw materials, minimizing the
Several areas, listed below, can be improved to enhance the utilization environmental impact of battery manufacturing. Conducting
of second-life batteries. comprehensive life cycle assessments of repurposed batteries
helps quantify their environmental benefits and identify areas for
further improvement. This assessment includes factors such as
6.1 End-of-life determination energy consumption, emissions, and waste generation throughout
the battery’s entire lifespan.
The determination of the EoL for a LiB based on the current SoH The economics of SLBs are a balancing act between the margin
criteria is not universally agreed upon, and opinions vary regarding comparable to new LiBs, additional costs for refurbishment, and the
the specific threshold. The 80% capacity fade criterion is commonly competition with recycling. For SLBs to be fully economically viable,
used in the automotive sector today, but there is ongoing debate on the refurbishment and logistics (transportation, collection) costs
whether it should be re-evaluated, particularly as rapid would need to decrease. However, the full costs depend strongly on
advancements in LiB technology have led to batteries with future technology, policy and market developments, and are difficult
improved degradation characteristics and longer lifespans. These to predict at such early stages. A more comprehensive assessment is
advancements may render the 80% SoH criterion outdated or overly needed to assess whether the environmental and economic benefits
conservative for certain battery chemistries and, since different of repurposing outweigh the benefits of extending the battery’s first
applications tolerate lower SoH values without significant life (either by decreasing the EoL threshold from 80% or improving
compromises on performance or safety, reviewing this threshold the battery technology), or directing EoL batteries immediately to
is imperative to maximising the full potential of a battery. recycling to recover valuable materials.

6.2 State-of-health diagnostics 6.5 Policy support for battery repurposing

Advancements in battery testing and characterization Policy frameworks that promote safe repurposing of LiBs can
techniques can improve the assessment of battery SoH and facilitate sustainable energy storage solutions. Governments can

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offer incentives, funding, or regulatory support to facilitate the Funding

repurposing of batteries, promote recycling practices, and ensure
stewardship of critical materials. It is crucial that a robust regulatory The authors declare financial support was received for the research,
framework for LiB repurposing prioritises safety and a sustainable authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding sources
battery value chain. Establishing clear regulations and standards for supporting this work came from University of Bristol Postgraduate
the repurposing process will improve safety and reduce Research Scholarships to JB and Faraday Institution (grant number
environmental threats. Guidelines for battery selection, testing, FIRG059) to JE and AH. Open access of this publication was funded by
and integration, as well as proper recycling and disposal practices the Imperial College London Open Access Fund.
will facilitate broader adoption and replication of successful
repurposing practices. Equally important are measures to ensure
that repurposed batteries are collected and eventually returned to Acknowledgments
recycling or further reuse at the end of second life. Repurposing an
EV battery for use in a non-EV application could mean that they are The authors would like to acknowledge Professor Gregory
no longer subject to End-of-life Vehicle regulations for collection J. Offer from Imperial College London for insightful comments,
and recycling, thus regulatory clarity about responsibilities and and both Cameron Brown and Dillon Jagatia for preliminary
obligations at the end of second life would enhance literature search support at Imperial College London.
environmental and economic value.

Conflict of interest
Author contributions
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
AP: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be
Supervision, Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. construed as a potential conflict of interest.
LL: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision,
Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. JA:
Investigation, Writing–original draft. JB: Investigation, Publisher’s note
Writing–review and editing. JL: Investigation, Writing–original
draft. JP: Writing–original draft. AH: Funding acquisition, All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and
Supervision, Writing–review and editing. YP: Funding do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or
acquisition, Methodology, Supervision, Writing–review and those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that
editing, Conceptualization. JE: Funding acquisition, Methodology, may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its
Supervision, Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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