Altilium and Connected Energy to extend lifecycle of EV batteries

With headquarters in Newcastle and Hethel, Connected Energy designs and develops energy storage systems using second-life EV batteries, while Altilium processes end-of-life EV batteries and manufactures the scrap to produce low-carbon cathode active materials (CAM) for reuse in new batteries.

Under the agreement, Altilium and Connected Energy will develop sustainable and environmentally responsible business models for the repurposing and recycling of EV batteries.

The collaboration also aims to establish recycling protocols, to be adopted as industry-wide standards, following the waste hierarchy principles of re-use, re-purpose and recycle.

Repurposing EV batteries in stationary systems can extend their life by up to ten years. Once these batteries reach the end of their second life, they can then be recycled and the minerals recovered for reuse in the production of new batteries.

Altilium has received its first batch of batteries from Connected Energy, which will be processed at the company’s recycling facilities in Devon. Using its EcoCathode recycling process, Altilium can recover over 95 per cent of the battery metals, including lithium, in a format that can be directly reused.

The process also results in a 60 per cent reduction in carbon emissions and 20 per cent lower costs compared to virgin materials.

In a statement, Matthew Lumsden, CEO Connected Energy, said: “Over the next five years, we will see a rapid increase in the availability of used EV batteries. As an industry, it is critical that we work together to ensure that we move batteries through the value chain in a way that minimises their environmental impact whilst maximising their financial value. This collaboration is an important step in creating a model for true battery circularity.”

Connected Energy’s storage systems are used across the UK and Europe for applications including supporting EV charging hubs, cutting energy bills, balancing the grid, and maximising the return on investment from solar arrays.

Giving their batteries a second life enables EV manufacturers and other battery owners to further monetise their batteries for several years before they are recycled.

Through this collaboration, Connected Energy hopes to capture more of the residual value of these spent batteries once they reach the end of their second life, while Altilium will gain more visibility of available feedstock for its recycling facilities, including its planned Teesside refinery (ACT 4).

The plant will have the capacity to recycle waste batteries from 150,000 EVs a year, producing 30,000MT of CAM, which is said to be enough to meet 20 per cent of the expected UK demand by 2030.