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Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

tech.supercarblondie.com

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Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#21

Post by cyphar »

It really should not be surprising that we can get very high recovery percentages from batteries -- we do not mine elemental lithium, so the processes we use for extraction are already designed to extract lithium from fairly low-purity sources. In contrast, lithium batteries are an incredibly high-purity source of lithium. The main question is when it will become cost-effective to create recycling pipelines.

Lead acid batteries had a similar trajectory and modern lead acid batteries are effectively 100% recycled.

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#22

Post by simondotau »

This article is poor, because lithium is just one part of the value contained within EV batteries. Far more valuable is any nickel, cobalt and graphite. Equally valuable is any copper and aluminium. Unless you're effectively recycling a significant number of the major materials, it's not enough.

Furthermore, it's not a remarkable achievement. By contrast to this headline, Redwood Materials claims "Redwood’s technology can recover, on average, more than 95% of materials like nickel, cobalt, copper, aluminum, lithium and graphite in a lithium-ion battery."[0]

[0] https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/recycle-with-us/

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#25

Post by cyberax »

cammikebrown wrote: post #12
mc3301 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to follow it closely and be in the industry, but it still seems like Japan is gonna be the last "mostly ICE cars" of the developed countries. Which is a shame, because it has a perfect combination of short-range needs (I mean, look at kei-cars), tons of wonderful places to hang out while charging (toll-way rest areas are so good), rare sub-freezing temperatures in most of the country, mandatory vehicle inspect…

If you live in Tokyo or Osaka you really shouldn’t own a car

Hence nobody should live in Tokyo and Osaka.

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#26

Post by hnav »

yanhangyhy wrote: post #19
chvid wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is curious - you would think they would love it? But they don't - is it simply the case of the Chinese beating them - stubbornness and pride? Or is there something more going on? Toyota was seemingly decades ahead at one point with their hybrid cars; but now they have resigned to a defensive position compared to Tesla, Chinese automakers, even the European ones.

> you would think they would love it? no. i just found it funny. > Or is there something more going on? I remember BYD actually had to design models specifically tailored to the Japanese market (k-car)—their preferences are honestly so bizarre. I think a lot of this comes down to their national character. Once external momentum fades—like the industrial transfers from the US—they seem to lose the drive for technologi…

That's probably a good thing, the world needs appliance-like cars for markets where EV charging isn't there yet.

Meanwhile Toyota is #1, moving millions of units, something like half of them are electrified in most markets. A 2026 Camry, for $30k, gives the buyer a low-TCO, value retaining, 50mpg, 230hp appliance of a car. That's a rarity.

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#27

Post by koolala »

waterproof wrote: post #7

according to https://x.com/Mith_/status/2041911606213537971 > The industry standard for the recovery of lithium (remember there is a difference between recovery and extraction) is 90%, with some platforms now achieving 95%+ like those that use carbonation.

What is the standard non-renewable resource used for the recovery process? What materials are used up as catalysts to convert it back?

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#28

Post by cyberax »

mc3301 wrote: post #11
yanhangyhy wrote: post #3

why bother? japan hate EV

I used to follow it closely and be in the industry, but it still seems like Japan is gonna be the last "mostly ICE cars" of the developed countries. Which is a shame, because it has a perfect combination of short-range needs (I mean, look at kei-cars), tons of wonderful places to hang out while charging (toll-way rest areas are so good), rare sub-freezing temperatures in most of the country, mandatory vehicle inspect…

Solid-state batteries are facing production hell now, with lots of issues cropping up when tested at large-scale in real devices.

So they are not expected in meaningful quantities until the early 2030-s.

And the LFP chemistry has now advanced so much that solid-state batteries might not even matter anymore, except for some niche uses like aviation/drones.

Re: Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries

#29

Post by chubs »

tyre wrote: post #14
mc3301 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to follow it closely and be in the industry, but it still seems like Japan is gonna be the last "mostly ICE cars" of the developed countries. Which is a shame, because it has a perfect combination of short-range needs (I mean, look at kei-cars), tons of wonderful places to hang out while charging (toll-way rest areas are so good), rare sub-freezing temperatures in most of the country, mandatory vehicle inspect…

In your opinion/experience, why is it that they aren't switching?

I have a theory: Japanese car's have excellent reliability, their interiors and design are lacking. If every car in the world is an EV, which due to their relative simplicity tend to be reliable, what remaining unique selling points does eg a toyota have?
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