Life Cycle Assessment of Sustainable End-of-Life Management Operations for Electric Vehicle Battery Pack

As the global demand for sustainable transportation grows, Electric Vehicles (EVs) promise to address environmental concerns and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have emerged as the leading technology in electric mobility due to their high energy density, reliability, and long cycle life. However, as the demand for Li-ion batteries increases, there are concerns regarding the availability and sustainability of the critical resources used for their production. This study investigates the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) of a specific Li-ion battery pack with a Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) cathode chemistry. The battery pack considered in the analysis has a capacity of 95 kWh. The LCA study involves the evaluation of the environmental impacts (i.e. greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and resource depletion ) associated with the entire life cycle of the battery pack, including raw material extraction, manufacturing processes, transportation, use phase, and End-of-Life (EoL) treatment. In parallel, the LCC analysis focuses on assessing the total cost associated with the Li-ion battery pack over its entire life cycle. This includes upfront costs, such as manufacturing and assembly, as well as operational costs and any potential end-of-life costs. The cost evaluation is based on secondary data derived from existing literature. The EoL is modeled analyzing three different scenarios : 1) simple disposal of the battery pack; 2) recycling of the battery pack; and 3) reconditioning the battery pack at the end of the first life followed by the recycling of the pack at the end of the second life. This analysis uses Europe as the geographic location, based on the greater adoption of elective vehicles, more progressive current legislation, and availability of data. Based on the outcomes of the LCA analysis, the carbon footprint of simple disposal, recycling and reconditioning and recycling scenarios are respectively 131.3 kgCO2 eq. / kWh , 119.7 kgCO2 eq. / kWh and 81.1 kgCO2 eq. / kWh. The results of the LCC, highlights an economic impact of 151.1 €/ kWh for simple disposal, 147.3 €/ kWh for the recycling scenario and 89.5 €/ kWh for the reconditioning and recycling scenario. For completeness, two sensitivity analyses have been conducted on both the LCA and LCC of the battery pack. The first analysis considers the influence of the energy mix used in each stage of the battery pack’s life cycle, by examining four distinct geographical locations, assuming the EoL stage is modeled as recycling. Finally, a sensitivity analysis for the EoL stage modeled as reconditioning is conducted, examining a range of different cell conversion rates (CCR) values used in previous studies.