Battery & Electrification Technology - November/December 2024 - 15

headquarters. One unique advantage for
the company when shipping batteries to
and from repair centers is that it can use
Mannheim Auctions' already-existing
transportation network that operates between
its 145 locations.
Home-Cooked Diagnostics
" Battery diagnostics is our special sauce, "
Malloy said, referring to the electronics lab,
which researches batteries and determines
best diagnostic practices. Connor Taylor,
the lab's Engineering Manager, discussed
how the lab has a startup mentality when
it comes to engineering and building their
own diagnostic tools.
" The testing we need to do with some
of these batteries, sometimes there just
isn't a commercial option, so we have to
build the equipment, " he said. " An example
of that is this 800-volt isolated voltage
acquisition part. Some newer batteries
are 800-volt architecture or higher,
and most of the commercial equipment
tops out at 600 volts. So, we couldn't really
find anything that would fit our
needs. So, we had to roll our own. "
He said the other big category of selfbuilt
equipment is things that do exist, but
there's a reason for building it in-house.
Often, that's cost. He showed a source measurement
unit for testing Toyota Prius and
Camry battery modules. Testing involves
repeatedly charging and discharging cells
while recording voltage, current and temperature.
" You can buy off-the-shelf equipment
that does that, " Taylor said. " But we
calculated that we needed 2,000 channels
and were quoted $1,000 a channel. Back in
2018 we didn't have $2 million to just give
to a supplier and wait nine months. "
Cox had a completed design in 2019
but then the chip shortage hit and forced
them to design the unit a second time.
" That was somewhat of a good thing, " he
said, because it allowed them to use
newer, better chips. The end cost of the
project: A mere $20,000.
Among other tools developed in-house
is a 25kW rapid discharger used by the
recycling crew to deplete batteries before
they're shredded.
Other Recyclers
Inventing tools is just part of the work
when it comes to developing EV battery recycling
technologies. One company that
A technician disassembles a battery module
as part of the diagnosis and repair process.
(Image: Cox Automotive)
apparently has enough solutions developed
to attract OEM partnerships is Redwood
Materials, which currently operates a campus
in Reno, NV, where it recycles, refines,
and manufactures battery components.
Redwood Materials, founded by former
Tesla Co-Founder JB Straubel, recycles
and refines old, broken batteries into new
manufactured components in Reno, NV. It
is building a second campus in Charleston,
SC, not far from BMW Group's EV-focused
Plant Spartanburg and Plant Woodruff. In
September, BMW announced that it would
work with Redwood to recover end-of-life
lithium-ion batteries from BMW's
close-to-700 locations - like dealerships
and distribution centers - in the U.S.
Denise Melville, BMW's Head of
Sustainability, said in a statement that
with the Redwood deal, BMW " is laying
the groundwork for the creation of a fully
circular battery supply chain in the U.S. "
BMW was beaten to the punch by VW,
Audi, Toyota, and Ultium, which have all announced
some sort of battery recycling deal
with Redwood in the last two years. Toyota,
for example, announced in November 2023
that it would source cathode active material
(CAM) and anode copper foil from Redwood's
recycling processes for use in future hybrids
and EVs. Toyota will use the recycled material
at the new $14-billion Toyota Battery
Manufacturing plant in North Carolina
when it opens in 2025.
Ultim said in early 2024 that it would
send production scrap materials - cell
scrap, cathode, and anode material - from
its Warren, OH, and Spring Hill, TN, battery
Battery & Electrification Technology, November/December 2024
Everything about the plant is ultra-organized
in the name of efficiency, including the space
where battery packs wait to go through the
recycling process. (Image: Cox Automotive)
The entire process, from taking reports of
damaged batteries, through shipping, repair
and return are all tracked in the company's
proprietary ALFRED software system. (Image:
Cox Automotive)
facilities to Redwood. Ultium said in a
statement that " despite tremendously efficient
production rates, cell manufacturing
still experiences a 5-10 percent scrap rate
on average, " a number that translates to
around 10,000 tons of material each year.
VW and Audi, while also talking with
Redwood about EV battery recycling, encouraged
customers to bring in old batteries
and devices so Redwood could extract
the lithium from them.
15
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