Evaluation of the Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Legal, and Environmental Perspectives of Second Life Electric Vehicle Batteries in India

1. Introduction

The automobile sector is one of the most polluting sectors in the world and the tailpipe emissions from conventional vehicles account for around 75% of all carbon emissions in the mobility sector (Timo Moller, 2022). The transportation sector caters to 24% of CO₂ emissions exclusively by combustion of fossil fuels, and road transport contributes 75% of this share globally (IEA, 2022). The transport sector holds the share of 14% energy related direct CO₂ emissions in India and the same is regarded as the fastest-growing emission sector in the country. Fig. 1 portrays the vehicle type-based carbon emissions by the transport sector in India (Puneet Kamboj, 2022). Electric mobility has been recommended as an effective alternative to issues of environmental pollution and climate change caused by conventional fuel-based vehicles, thus ensuring clean and sustainable development.

Figure 1.

Carbon emissions by the transport sector in India in 2020

Figure 2.

Projection of the SLEVB capacity till 2030

The EV market has undergone substantial growth in recent times. In 2016, EV sales globally reached approximately 478 thousand. However, by 2022, the number of EV sales had surpassed 5.2 million, leading to a 49% increase in the average annual market growth (CAGR 2016-2022) (Statista, 2022). In April 2023, electric cars including SUVs achieved their second-highest monthly sales, with a total of 5,147 units sold. Notably, EV sales in India during April 2023, experienced a remarkable 41% increase compared to the previous year, reaching 109,283 units. This data, obtained from the Vahan website as on April 30, 2023, marks the seventh consecutive month in which the sales of EVs in India have surpassed the 1 lakh unit milestone (Dalvi, 2023).

Once the remaining capacity falls below a predetermined performance point, the battery, one of the fundamental components of EVs, will be discarded and recycled. Thus, the idea of reusing batteries from EVs for new uses has gained popularity as a solution. Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) are being considered a prominent solution as a way to use retired EV batteries due to the growing environmental concerns surrounding retired EV batteries. With the gradual decline in the cost of batteries, the demand for batteries is expected to increase 14 times by 2030 compared to 2018, with the EV application leading the demand by more than 88% compared to other applications, such as ESS and Consumer Electronics (Martinez-Laserna et al., 2018a).

As the number of EVs continues to rise, a similar increase in the battery packs reaches the end-of-life criteria. Presently, EV battery packs are typically considered effective in vehicles until their state of health (SOH) reaches 80%. The SOH of a battery is calculated as the ratio of the capacity available in the battery at present to its rated capacity [3]. While these batteries may no longer meet the demanding requirements of vehicle applications, they are still in good condition. Consequently, recycling often isn't the optimal solution. As a result, a business model has emerged wherein these batteries are repurposed for less-demanding applications that can still make use of their remaining capacity. This grants the retired EV batteries a second lease on life, hence the term ‘SLEVB’ has gained popularity. Fig. 2 indicates the projection of SLEVB till 2030 (Statista, 2019).