Audi and Umicore say they have successfully completed the test phase of their research cooperation for sustainable battery recycling.
The result is more than 90% of the cobalt and nickel in the high-voltage batteries of the Audi e-tron can be recovered.
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From January, the partners will cooperate on a closed loop for cobalt and nickel, with the recovered materials used in new battery cells.
For the closed-loop pilot project, Umicore will receive cell modules from the Audi e-tron model, which will initially be taken from development vehicles. From those cells, the materials technology company will recover cobalt and nickel, processing them into precursor and cathode materials.
From this, new battery cells containing recycled cobalt and nickel can be produced.
“A closed loop for battery raw materials is a big leap technologically,” said Audi board member for Procurement and IT, Bernd Martens. “We save precious resources and reduce CO2 emissions. In this way we come significantly closer to our goal of a sustainable supply chain and reach a milestone on the road to achieving an overall carbon-neutral balance by 2050.”
“It is our aim to think sustainability holistically. This includes dealing with the remaining end of life as well as resource-saving development of our products.”
