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

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

#61
post #49
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Probably a mix between oil-ties and the fact that decisions in Japan are made slowly. Edit: I also think there's a fear of this: wide acceptance of EVs open the door to BYD (or similar) huge takeover of the car market.

Japan is slowly decreasing it's oil imports,they consume now 30% less oil than in 2003.

https://opengov.jp/en/economy/energy/crude-oil-imports/

Japan (Panasonic) is important baterry cell manufacturer, but most battery cells are exported, not used for domestic EVs. For example Panasonic is supplying batteries for Tesla.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_electric_vehicle_batte...

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

#62
Some geopolitical context:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Senkaku_boat_collision_in...

https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/comme...

Japan was one of the first countries to be hit with rare-earth export-restrictions by China - going back to 2010. It seems that a lot of policy came out from this unpleasant shock, incl. the decision by Toyota to focus on developing FCEVs which would be less dependent on Chinese supply-chains. Ironically, the resulting vacuum may have actually led to Chinese/American companies gaining market share in the BEV space.

Still, given how things are going, FCEVs (and Japan with it) might actually end-up having the last laugh.

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

#63
post #21

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 aci…

U.S. lead acid baterries recycling has been outsourced. " As the United States tightened regulations on lead processing to protect Americans over the past three decades, finding domestic lead became a challenge. So the auto industry looked overseas to supplement its supply. In doing so, car and battery manufacturers pushed the health consequences of lead recycling onto countries where enforcement is lax, testing is r…

Yeah, too many lead batteries here, and there are a lot of battery recycle factories. It's been a health and environment concern for a while. And these batteries allowed to put motors on rickshaw, we call them "Tesla", And they are also another hazard, and menace for the price of faster transportation.

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

#64
post #14
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?

Issues with home charging comes to mind, but I suspect it might have to do with gas station experience in Japan not being so miserable.

Phrases that are equivalent to "full tank every morning with no need for drives to gas pumps" basically don't appear on Japanese Internet. I just googled a bit for Model 3 user reviews in Japanese, and most mentioned items seem to be futuristic experience, various minor QoL and reliability issues like sensors and actuator issues, and disappointing chassis dynamics such as torsional rigidity and suspension designs. Few mention home charging and none as a positive. Fewer mention the CEO as a factor, whose eccentricity is still not widely reported in Japan - Trump/Musk derangement is not fun to watch and media tend to sanewash or simply skip over those.

Though, I think Tesla is also not doing that bad in Japan? I see pre-Highlander M3 and occasional MY Juniper on the road, about as often as Porsche(all models). It's slightly more common than Nissan Sakura, and definitely more common than Ferrari and BYD cars(all models).

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

#65
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

more importantly what is the cost versus getting it the non recyclable way

that way is 100% non-renewable, the important questions are the total long term costs

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

#66
post #21

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 aci…

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

Getting rid of all that waste material from Galena was maybe a different incentive structure but yeah.

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

#67
The article is very, very light with details. The university or research center is not named. No scientist is named. No link. Nothing that tells "look, we're telling you real, solid, serious stuff."

Here is another article with that details : https://www.techspot.com/news/112051-japan-finds-way-recover...

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

#69
post #21

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 aci…

If you've ever seen a video of Nigerians "recycling" lead batteries you'd be hard pressed to call it that. Katana in one hand, bucket on the floor, no shoes, let's go.
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