New group dealing with end-of-life EV batteries

A “Battery Leaders Group” has been formed by automotive industry representatives and others to find ways of using lithium-ion batteries to avoid creating e-waste.

Led by energy company Vector, the group aims to find circular economy solutions for the batteries that are powering everything from electric vehicles to Vector Lights (Auckland Harbour Bridge lighting and special events) when they reach their end of life.

“The numbers of electric vehicles on our roads is growing and with a battery life of around five to 15 years this could become a significant new waste stream for New Zealand to deal with,” Vector Group chief executive Simon Mackenzie says.

“That’s why we’ve formed this leaders’ group to tackle the issue head-on. It will be good for the country if we succeed in reducing waste to landfill, and group members will benefit through pre-competitive collaboration to unlock new parts of the battery value chain.”

The group includes representatives from Vector, Audi, BMW, Toyota, the Scrap Metal Recycling Association of New Zealand, and Waste Management NZ.

A joint statement commits the group to researching the market for end-of-life batteries from EVs, and home energy storage.

Mackenzie says it will research the scale of the problem and develop formal recommendations on how a future product stewardship scheme should be implemented.

“We’re initially aiming to quantify and identify business opportunities designed to give second-life use to large batteries,” he says.

“For Vector, some of those uses could be in network ancillary services like grid stability, or even displacing temporary diesel generation in some cases.

“We’re also aiming to keep e-waste costs to a minimum for consumers by developing industry insights and recommendations for a future lithium-ion battery product stewardship scheme.”

Mackenzie says it’s an excellent example of New Zealand business working to solve a shared problem in a way that supports a low-emission, high productivity economy.

Visit vector.co.nz for more information.