Battery & Electrification Technology - November/December 2024 - 14

A technician in Cox's Oklahoma City Battery Center uses
the company's ALFRED software to track the diagnosis
of a battery pack. The company can diagnose and repair
packs at one of four locations, including this one, or it
can send what it calls Flying Doctors to dealerships to fix
packs locally. (Image: Cox Automotive)
Where Do
EV Batteries Go
When They Die?
Some go to Cox Automotive's battery solutions center in Oklahoma City, where the company
works with OEMs on their post-sale needs. Others get recycled, with lots of OEMs teaming up
with Redwood Materials.
A
14
t Cox Automotive's EV
Battery Solutions center
in Oklahoma City,
the conglomerate
most famous for its
KBB, Autotrader, and
Manheim auction brands, has become a
go-to for EV battery research, repair, remanufacturing,
and recycling.
It's something that not a lot of EV buyers
think of. When the complex, virtually
living organisms that power EVs have
problems, it's often not a simple fix that
can be handled by a dealer's traditional
service technicians. Enter Cox, whose
" Flying Doctors " can be dispatched to either
complete the repair or walk the
dealer's technicians through the process.
And if the problem is more extensive,
a dealer and OEM can send a battery to
Oklahoma City, where separate diagnostic
and service teams work on the problem.
If the battery can't be saved, it is
sent to another end of the compound to
be recycled and turned into scrap and
black mass that can be used again. As
we'll see below, the EV battery recycling
space is growing.
Lea Malloy, Cox AVP for EV battery solutions,
said the 11-year-old business,
which was Spiers New Technologies before
Cox acquired it in 2021, " is the first
and only one-stop shop for the entire
battery lifecycle. "
Malloy is particularly proud that the
company " supported the nation's largest
battery recall, " the fire-related recall of
2017 to 2022 Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV
models. " We learned a lot from that. "
Though the Oklahoma City center is
Cox's largest, they also exist in Detroit, Las
Vegas, and Atlanta, near the company's
Battery & Electrification Technology, November/December 2024

Battery & Electrification Technology - November/December 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Battery & Electrification Technology - November/December 2024