The BMW Group is stepping up its commitment to achieving climate neutrality and massively expanding its use of secondary material in closed recycling loops. For the first time in China, the BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture has established a closed loop for reuse of the raw materials nickel, lithium and cobalt from high-voltage batteries that are no longer suitable for use in electric vehicles. The batteries come from fully and partially-electric development vehicles, test systems and production rejects and, in the future, also from end-of-life vehicles. In this way, the company is laying the foundation for a pioneering material cycle, which is becoming increasingly important as e-mobility ramps up. To realise this, BBA is working with a local recycler that dismantles retired batteries and uses innovative technology to recover a high percentage of the raw materials nickel, lithium and cobalt from the battery cells. The raw materials obtained in this way are then used in production of new battery cells for the BMW Group. The closed-loop material cycle conserves resources and, at the same time, reduces CO2 emissions by 70%, compared to using newly extracted primary material.China’s current policies require a high-voltage battery tracing system to be established to ensure batteries can be tracked and recycled once retired. The BMW Group has developed a system for this, with coding that enables seamless traceability of batteries throughout their lifecycle. The coding ensures batteries from the entire value chain, from initial test vehicles to vehicles already in the market, can be professionally recycled.Once returned, the batteries are evaluated for potential continued use. The BMW Group began using end-of-life batteries with a high residual capacity in forklift trucks at BBA plants in China back in 2020. The plan is for these “second-life applications” for batteries to be expanded, going forward, to include pallet lifting trucks and stationary energy storage units with charging capabilities.If end-of-life batteries do not meet the criteria for second use, they are recycled. The nickel, lithium and cobalt raw materials obtained in this way are channelled into production of new battery cells for the BMW Group. A battery with a capacity of 100 kWh contains, on average, almost 90 kg of nickel, lithium and cobalt; with nickel accounting for most of this amount.Batteries that are not disposed of properly impact the environment and waste valuable raw material resources that could be used further
The BMW Group is stepping up its commitment to achieving climate neutrality and massively expanding its use of secondary material in closed recycling loops. For the first time in China, the BMW Brilliance Automotive joint venture has established a closed loop for reuse of the raw materials nickel, lithium and cobalt from high-voltage batteries that are no longer suitable for use in electric vehicles. The batteries come from fully and partially-electric development vehicles, test systems and production rejects and, in the future, also from end-of-life vehicles. In this way, the company is laying the foundation for a pioneering material cycle, which is becoming increasingly important as e-mobility ramps up. To realise this, BBA is working with a local recycler that dismantles retired batteries and uses innovative technology to recover a high percentage of the raw materials nickel, lithium and cobalt from the battery cells. The raw materials obtained in this way are then used in production of new battery cells for the BMW Group. The closed-loop material cycle conserves resources and, at the same time, reduces CO2 emissions by 70%, compared to using newly extracted primary material.China’s current policies require a high-voltage battery tracing system to be established to ensure batteries can be tracked and recycled once retired. The BMW Group has developed a system for this, with coding that enables seamless traceability of batteries throughout their lifecycle. The coding ensures batteries from the entire value chain, from initial test vehicles to vehicles already in the market, can be professionally recycled.Once returned, the batteries are evaluated for potential continued use. The BMW Group began using end-of-life batteries with a high residual capacity in forklift trucks at BBA plants in China back in 2020. The plan is for these “second-life applications” for batteries to be expanded, going forward, to include pallet lifting trucks and stationary energy storage units with charging capabilities.If end-of-life batteries do not meet the criteria for second use, they are recycled. The nickel, lithium and cobalt raw materials obtained in this way are channelled into production of new battery cells for the BMW Group. A battery with a capacity of 100 kWh contains, on average, almost 90 kg of nickel, lithium and cobalt; with nickel accounting for most of this amount.Batteries that are not disposed of properly impact the environment and waste valuable raw material resources that could be used further
