#EV#battery repair is dangerous. Here’s why mechanics want to do it anyway.
Fixing car and #ebike batteries saves money and resources — but challenges are holding back the industry.
by Maddie Stone, Dec 08, 2023
"About three times a day, Rich Benoit gets a call to his auto shop, The Electrified Garage, from the owner of an older Tesla Model S whose car battery has begun to fail. The battery, which used to provide several hundred miles of range, might suddenly only last 50 miles on a single charge. These cars are often out of warranty, and the cost of replacing the battery can exceed $15,000.
"For most products, repair is a more affordable option than replacement. And in theory, lots of these Tesla batteries can be fixed, said Benoit, who runs one of the few Tesla-focused independent repair shops in the United States. But due to the time and training involved, the safety considerations, and the complexity of the repair, Benoit said that the bill to fix one car battery at his shop might run upwards of $10,000 — more than most consumers are willing to pay. Instead, he said, many choose to sell or donate their old vehicle for scrap and buy a brand new Tesla.
“'It’s getting to the point where [the car] is almost like a consumable, like a TV,' Benoit said.
"Benoit’s experience heralds a problem that early adopters of EVs, as well as electric micromobility devices like e-bikes and #escooters, are beginning to face: These vehicles contain big, expensive batteries that will inevitably degrade or stop working over time. Repairing these batteries can have sustainability benefits, saving energy and resources that would otherwise be used to manufacture a new one. That’s particularly important for EVs, which contain very large batteries that must be used for years to offset the carbon emissions associated with making them.
But many EV and e-mobility batteries are difficult to repair by design, and some manufacturers actively discourage the practice, citing safety concerns. The small number of independent mechanics who repair EV or e-bike batteries struggle to do so affordably due to design challenges, safety requirements, and a lack of access to spare parts.
“'There are a lot of automakers who do not allow battery repair, even in case of minor damages to the battery case,' a GDV spokesperson told Grist. Automakers sometimes choose to replace the battery if the car was involved in an accident that caused the airbags to activate. Both practices 'will lead to an increase of repair costs,' and ultimately, higher insurance premiums, the spokesperson said.
"New rules around EV battery repairability would come at a critical time. Helps, of Cox Automotive, said that two trends in EV battery design are occurring in parallel: 'Batteries are either becoming very serviceable, or not serviceable at all.'
"Some, like the batteries inside Volkswagon’s ID.4, feature LEGO-like modules that are easy to remove and replace. Others, like Tesla’s new 4680 structural battery pack, don’t include modules at all. Instead, all of the cells are bonded together and bonded to the pack itself, a design Helps described as 'impossible to service.' If a bad cell group is found, the entire battery must be replaced.
“'It’s still a fully #recyclable battery,' Helps said. 'You’re just not able to repair it.'
"#Tesla didn’t respond to Grist’s request for comment."
@Rjdlandscapes I guess the takeaway I got from the full article (not just the excerpts I posted) is that the batteries aren't made to be repaired -- which is ridiculous, but not surprising. I had a friend who gave up her #EVCar because the #battery replacement was more than the value of the car. That's just bad and wrong. Also, #Lithium, #Cobalt and the like need to be recycled if the battery is no longer repairable. Sometimes batteries stop holding charges. It's something we see with household rechargeable batteries, and it's a design flaw that needs to be fixed. As for the dangers of #LithiumBatteries, there have been issues with exploding cars and #ebikes -- just being in storage! So, yes, proper training is required -- just like working on electrical systems or plumbing -- not for the untrained.
A struggling #California region is suddenly poised to become wealthy.
I hope they can find a way to get it out without damaging pristine #desert, but enough of the area has been damaged by #agriculture or misuse that they might be able to find a way to mine it without causing actual damage to the #environment. Maybe.
♲ @florida_ted@diasp.org:> The announcement says "Shimizu has launched has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the refinement of the second prototype..." Does this product seem a little too good to be true?www.gizmochina.com/2023/12/01/…
Yet another discarded “ #disposable” #vape in the park this morning.
This was a chunky one with a nice big 2,410mAh #rechargeable#lithium#battery in it.
Ironically it had a #USB-C charging port but no easy way to refill the fluid so still a bit of a #waste of #resources 🤷♂️
Group outraged as controversial mining project breaks ground on site of massacre: ‘[We] were not consulted’
Rick Kazmer
Sun, November 19, 2023
"A lithium mine is being constructed on #Nevada land that’s culturally important to #NativeAmericans. The project by #LithiumAmericas is at #ThackerPass, where on Sept. 12, 1865, United States soldiers massacred Native Americans, killing up to 50 people, according to the Guardian.
"Now, 158 years later, the Thacker Pass area has been identified as having the country’s largest #lithium lode. But members of tribal communities who consider the land sacred told the Guardian that they have been left out of the discussion as the operation moves forward, a point contested by the company on its website.
“'All the people here on the reservation were not consulted when this mine was approved,' Dorece Sam, a descendant of one of three survivors of the massacre, told the newspaper.
Why is lithium important?
"Lithium is a key part of #batteries that power electric vehicles #EVs and other tech. Much of it is refined on the other side of the world, with Australia and China among the leaders. The U.S., however, is among the global leaders in underground lithium reserves, with more than 13 million tons, according to Visual Capitalist, an online data collector.
"Proponents of mining the untapped U.S. reserve cite the need to gain independence from China for lithium and other metals, a goal marked at the highest level of our government.
"LithiumMining, however, can be invasive. Native Americans interviewed by the Guardian said that since it’s happening on sacred land, it’s an invasion of the highest order.
"'You can’t blow up a mountain and call it green,' Max Wilbert of Protect Thacker Pass said in a press release quoted on the Sacred Land Film Project website.
What’s the impact?
"Mining at Thacker Pass is projected to use about 1.7 billion gallons of #water, producing more than 66,000 tons of lithium a year, per the Guardian.
"Company officials claim on their website that the project has been planned for a decade with input from tribal leaders. They plan to permanently employ 500 people for at least 40 years, generating $8 billion in tax payments during the mine’s lifetime.
"At least two tribes have lawsuits filed against the project. However, tribal historic preservation officer Michon Eben told the Guardian that activity on the land is already disturbing.
"'So, if any tribes or anybody wanted to mitigate that destruction, what are we going to mitigate?' Eben said to the newspaper, noting frustration with the court system.
What’s being done to help?
"#Noninvasive lithium mining, or alternatives to the metal for use in batteries, is in the works in labs worldwide. The right solution could eliminate the need for #mining, or lithium, altogether.
"To help Native Americans protect Thacker Pass, you can research their story. The #SacredLandFilmProject has several ways to help, including #fundraising, calling #media and #officials, and sharing the story on #SocialMedia to highlight the cause."
Groundbreaking study makes huge discovery about recycled #lithium-ion batteries: ‘[This is] increasingly needed’
Brett Aresco
October 26, 2023
"As if you needed yet another reason to #recycle your #electronics with lithium-ion batteries, a study in the science journal Joule shows that recycled lithium-ion batteries may outperform their new counterparts.
"Working in tandem, a group of 27 researchers from institutions like the Argonne National Laboratory and the Brookhaven National Laboratory tweaked the composition of recycled lithium-ion batteries to see how they would perform. They achieved some surprising results.
"To reach their unexpected conclusions, the scientists behind the study made some changes to the cathode, which is the key —and most expensive — component within a typical lithium-ion battery.
"Rather than melting down the entire used battery (as most other recycling processes do), the team was able to salvage the cathode and merely change its structure, resulting in better performance than even a new battery can offer.
:Kang Xu, a U.S. Army Research Laboratory scientist unaffiliated with the study, told Scientific American that the research team’s results were 'very unique and very impressive.' The study’s findings also have the potential to be combined with similar research involving recycled anodes, the counterparts of cathodes.
"In a 2022 study from Rice University published in the journal Advanced Materials, for instance, scientists were able to 'quickly regenerate graphite anode materials found in lithium-ion batteries, removing impurities so they can be used again and again.' [However, where will the 'impurities go? Always consider potential waste sources!]
"Improved lithium-ion battery recycling will not only help the environment and consumers but businesses as well.
"'Battery manufacturers want to know that recycled cathode materials are not inferior to new cathode materials,' said Yan Wang, a scientist from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute who contributed to the Joule study. 'This research shows that recycled materials can electrochemically match or outperform pristine, state-of-the-art cathode materials from tier 1 suppliers.'
"Beyond losing valuable materials and structures that could be reused, failure to recycle lithium-ion batteries can have disastrous consequences.
"In 2017, USA Today reported that 65% of fires at California waste management facilities were caused by discarded lithium-ion batteries. And yet, people can’t seem to stop trashing them: In early February, a garbage truck in Columbus, Ohio, caught fire because a careless consumer threw out their laptop.
"The question of how to make lithium-ion battery recycling profitable has long vexed companies, governments, and #environmental advocates.
"'Economically viable electric vehicle lithium-ion battery recycling is increasingly needed,' a 2021 paper in the journal iScience concluded. 'However routes to profitability are still unclear.' [IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE PROFIT, EH?]
"This study has the potential to change that paradigm entirely.
'This work,' the authors write, 'proves that recycled materials could potentially be reused in new batteries and the profitable recycling process could be realized.'
"Luckily, there are a number of startups, like #Germany’s #Tozero and #Canada’s #LiCycle, that are committed to making lithium-ion battery recycling mainstream. With any luck, they will be able to incorporate the lessons learned from this latest study, and more consumers will be willing to give their old batteries another chance."
So, apparently, this #Lithium project didn't pan out because the brine was so corrosive, it destroyed the equipment used to process it. YIKES! #Exxon is planning on using a similar process (closed loop extraction) in #Arkansas.
General Motors looks to California for its next lithium supply
The US automaker is investing in closed-loop extraction from the Salton Sea.
Jonathan M. Gitlin - 7/2/2021,
"CTR's Hell's Kitchen project will extract lithium salts from geothermal brine in the Salton Sea. By using heat from the brine to power the processing, it hopes to produce 15,000 tons of lithium carbonate and 49.9 MW of energy in 2023."
"More than 250 years ago, the #Ojibwe people, one of the largest Indigenous populations in North America, received a prophecy to migrate westward until they reached the land where food grows on water.
When the #MilleLacsBand of Ojibwe encountered wild rice in north-central Minnesota, they knew they found their new home. Rice harvesting has been a cornerstone of Ojibwe culture ever since.
"Today, mining exploration company #TalonMetals, also has its sights set on Minnesota. Some of the world’s richest high-grade #nickel and #copper deposits are thousands of feet below the state colloquially known as 'the land of 10,000 lakes.'
"Talon seeks to construct a mine in the rural town of Tamarack, which it says will be integral to building the nation’s domestic supply of materials necessary for a clean energy transition.
"Nickel and copper are key components of rechargeable #lithium ion (#LION) batteries that are widely used for low-emission technologies like electric vehicles (EVs). The company already has an agreement to supply #Tesla with nickel from its proposed mine, potentially bringing hundreds of unionized mining jobs to this rural area.
"The federal government has also recognized nickel and copper as 'essential to national defense,' adding them to the U.S. critical minerals list in 2022 and 2023, respectively. And, this September, the Department of Defense awarded Talon a $20.1 million matching grant to continue searching for deposits throughout the #LakeSuperior region.
"As the U.S. strives to be a leader in clean energy transition, the #TamarackProject encapsulates both the promise and challenges that lie ahead.
"The Dangers of Sulfide Mining
"Kelly Applegate, the commissioner of natural resources for the Mille Lacs Band, was shocked when he first saw deep earth imaging of nickel-copper deposits beneath his tribal land in the late 1990s.
A study from the U.S. Geological Survey suggested that the Lake Superior region could have deposits as lucrative as high-yield mines in Canada and Russia.
'Oh my gosh, look at these mineral deposits that may one day be sought out,' he recalls thinking to himself.
"Two decades later, Talon Metals, a mining company founded by former Canadian venture #capitalists and based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), applied for a permit with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to create the Tamarack Project just over a mile away from the closest Mille Lacs Band community. "
Rohstoffe: Wie sinnvoll ist Lithium-Förderung in Deutschland?
Lithium gilt als entscheidender Rohstoff, vor allem für die Autoindustrie. Firmen wollen das "weiße Gold" auch in Deutschland fördern, etwa in der Pfalz. Kann die deutsche Wirtschaft so unabhängiger von Importen werden? Von Christian Kretschmer.
"Oil companies are investing in [green technology]. This is proof that [green technology] is actually an elaborate scam to maintain the oil business!" - Delusional BEV evangelists.
Now you can put BEVs alongside that insane conspiracy theory if you follow that logic.
So while there expertise in mining & exploration can be deployed, I guess the Q. is: is this the start of a trend or an more lone exploratory move by one bug player.
[Incidentally, as lithium is still an extractive industry, does this really count as a pivot or merely a diversification?]
A new and efficient way to recycle metals from spent electric car batteries. It allows to recover 100% of the aluminum and 98% of the lithium. The loss of other valuable materials like nickel, cobalt and manganese is minimised. It doesn’t use expensive or harmful chemicals, just oxalic acid, an organic acid that can be found in the plant kingdom.
Climate change is an immediate threat to the majority of the world's population.
We need a local, regional, state, national, and international "moon shot" type of concentration of effort using available resources while developing and advancing new science and technologies to counteract the damage humans have caused.
Without this type of all-out, universal cooperation, human civilization, and perhaps humanity itself, are in imminent danger of extinction.
#Lithium is definitely not the answer, but only an interim option until we can find a better solution that doesn't cause the level of #environmental and #human damage of this rare material.
Could #zinc be a much better, and cheaper, way to achieve Everything, Everywhere, All at Once #ClimateChange mitigation?
Extractive, non-#regenerative#technologies can only be short-term options for #ClimateChange mitigation because the irreparable damage they cause will eventually negate all or most of the immediate benefits they provide.
#Lithium is definitely not the answer. It only provides a temporary break and we must move away from it immediately.
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once solutions and strategies must always be improving, and doing less #environmental damage.
Desertec 3.0 – grüner Wasserstoff in kolonialer Tradition
"Die Krisen, mit denen wir uns aktuell konfrontiert sehen, sind die logische Konsequenz eines Systems, das auf Wachstum basiert. Die Politik gibt zwar vor, die Ursachen davon bekämpfen zu wollen, doch tatsächlich verwaltet sie diese bloß und sorgt durch das Beschleunigen von Modernisierungsprozessen in der Wirtschaft dafür, dass gesellschaftliche Umbrüche nicht die Stabilität der bestehenden Machtverhältnisse gefährden. Nichts zeigt dies deutlicher als Maßnahmen, welche zur Abwehr der Klimakatastrophe propagiert werden.
Dabei bleibt nicht nur die Logik des permanenten Wachstums unangetastet, sondern werden auch globale Machtasymmetrien und Abhängigkeiten zwischen der Nord- und Südhalbkugel durch neokoloniale Großprojekte mit grünem Anstrich weiter zementiert und ausgebaut. Beispielhaft dafür ist Desertec 3.0, bei dem Deutschland eine Vorreiterrolle spielt...."
#Portugal: Wie #Barroso sich dem grünen #Kapitalismus in den Weg stellt
"In der aufgrund ihrer nachhaltigen #Landwirtschaft zum Weltkulturerbe erklärten Region Barroso im Norden Portugals soll #Lithium abgebaut werden. Die Bevölkerung hat sich organisiert und politisiert, wir haben ein Camp der Widerstandsbewegung besucht."
Jetzt wird’s erst richtig kritisch #Rohstoffe
Neue EU-Ziele für die Rohstoffsicherung
"Dass die Industrie in einem Transformationsprozess steckt, sieht man auch an veränderten Rohstoffinteressen: Sorgte vor Jahrzehnten das Erdölkartell Opec für Angst und Schrecken, ist es nun die Metallgroßmacht China. Seltene Erden, #Lithium und #Silizium werden strategisch wichtig. Nur wer hier trotz Knappheiten seinen Bedarf decken kann, mischt im Zeitalter der #Digitalisierung und der #Klimaneutralität ganz vorne mit....." via @ndaktuell