March 2, 2021
America’s Race to Recycle and Recharge
Original article published in The Wire China
February 28, 2021 – Eli Binder
If the U.S. is to compete in next generation vehicles, it needs to produce electric vehicles — and also recycle their spent batteries.
The world’s carmakers are maneuvering toward an electric future, but
China’s grip on the precious minerals vital to the new vehicles may spark
another revolution: a race to retrieve and recycle batteries.
General Motors announced in January that it plans a major switch to electric
vehicles, in a bid to compete with Tesla, the world’s most valuable car
company, as well as Nio, a Chinese EV startup whose stock market value is
now equal to GM. All want the best technology to persuade consumers to
trade in their gas powered automobiles, but automakers will also have to
figure out how to keep their climate-conscious models moving.
…
“The growth of electrification is definitely going to put a strain on the
material supply of cobalt, nickel, lithium,” says Kunal Phalpher, chief
commercial officer of Li-Cycle Corp., a lithium-ion battery recycling startup
based near Toronto. “Three to five years out, those three materials are
going to be in short supply. We’re building towards an electric future, and
we’re going to need the raw materials.”
…
Read the full article in The Wire China