General Motors (GM) and Cirba Solutions have completed a closed-loop electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling pilot that uses recovered critical minerals from end-of-life GM battery packs to produce new battery cells.
The pilot produced GM EV battery cells using cathode active material containing 100% recycled nickel, cobalt, and manganese. The recycled materials were recovered from end-of-life EV batteries and manufacturing scrap before being processed for reuse in new cells.
Cirba Solutions disassembled and processed the end-of-life battery packs at its lithium-ion recycling and recovery facility in Ohio. The batteries were converted into black mass, a concentrated intermediate material containing critical minerals that can be further refined for battery production.
Before being used in new cells, the recovered nickel, cobalt, and manganese were refined and validated to meet requirements for cathode active material. The resulting CAM was then used to produce new EV battery cells through Ultium Cells, the joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution.
GM assembled the cells into battery modules and packs at its Factory ZERO and Spring Hill manufacturing facilities. The first vehicles using battery cells made with the recycled cathode materials have now entered production.
The pilot demonstrates a closed-loop process in which materials recovered from retired EV batteries can be processed, qualified, and returned to automotive battery production rather than being removed from the battery supply chain.
GM and Cirba Solutions say the approach could support greater domestic recovery of critical battery materials as the number of EV batteries reaching end of life increases.
Filed Under: Batteries, Technology News