Nissan and Sumitomo established a joint venture to recycle lithium-ion electric car batteries, which could give Nissan an early lead in the fledgling electric car market by making its vehicles more affordable. The venture is based on a ‘4R’ business model – Reuse, Resell, Refabricate and Recycle. Nissan aims to launch mass market electric vehicles by 2012. It already operates a joint venture with NEC – Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) – that makes high-performance lithium-ion batteries.
Reselling the batteries solves one of electric car manufacturers’ biggest problems, which is affordability. Demand is expected to be particularly high for back-up power supplies, uninterruptable power supplies, load levelling for the electricity grid, and levelling of energy from both photovoltaic solar and wind power. In Japan, demand for such recycled batteries is expected to reach the equivalent of at least 50,000 electric cars a year by 2020.
“…lithium-ion batteries retain 70% to 80% of their residual capacity after 10 years…”
The lithium-ion batteries Nissan uses retain 70% to 80% of their residual capacity, even after their average lifetime of 10 years in an electric car. The OEM believes such a venture will enable high residual values for electric-car batteries. The output of many renewable energy sources is tied to external conditions such as sun and wind, rather than the amount of power users need at a given time. Using big lithium-ion batteries, producers could store excess energy during off-peak hours and release it again when demand rises or power sources fail.
