Tips and Takeaways from My First 800-Mile EV Road Trip in Scotland

[JustKeepSwimming]

I wonder what happens to worn out batteries now? I guess there aren't that many at the moment to be much of a problem. But in a few years time...

I think commodity prices + economies of scale + recycling tech advancements made recycling viable few years back. Absolutely without a shadow of a doubt the US and EU will mandate 100% recycling sooner or later.

I think I read each battery is worth about 4k in reusable minerals/metals. Like half the cost to build the thing in the first place.

[northernladuk]

I think commodity prices + economies of scale + recycling tech advancements made recycling viable few years back. Absolutely without a shadow of a doubt the US and EU will mandate 100% recycling sooner or later.

I think I read each battery is worth about 4k in reusable minerals/metals. Like half the cost to build the thing in the first place.

You are more optimistic than I am. Batteries are going to be the next crisis our kids have to deal with IMO.

[JustKeepSwimming]

You are more optimistic than I am. Batteries are going to be the next crisis our kids have to deal with IMO.

Disagree. I don't think it's going to be a rosy as some think, and it's not plain sailing to 100% EV. No battery expert at all but from people who seem to be there is a lot of hope for some revolutionary new technology around the corner.

I think the biggest issue is pretty much all countries, including Western ones, will need to undergo post WW2 infrastructure modernisation to upgrade the grid. It's not something I see talked about a lot.

[vetran]

You are more optimistic than I am. Batteries are going to be the next crisis our kids have to deal with IMO.

Totally agree! Decades ago I visited a well known & respected battery manufacturer and had a tour of their production line. They did not employ women of child bearing age because of the risks to an unborn child of the lead in the batteries which was sprayed all over the factory due to the process. This was their way of fixing the issue! No thought if its a deadly poison should all of our workers be protected?

Unless the used batteries have a significant value expect them to appear on Indian beaches after we have been charged top dollar to dispose of them just like tyres.

[wattaj]

You are more optimistic than I am. Batteries are going to be the next crisis our kids have to deal with IMO.

Shortly after the inability to recycle wind turbine blades... coming to a landfill near you soon.

[dsc]

I wonder what happens to worn out batteries now? I guess there aren't that many at the moment to be much of a problem. But in a few years time...

Yeah not that many, although battery production companies already have recycling stations for batteries that simply fail production and need to be binned. Currently it's not economically viable to simply recycle, but I'm sure at some stage as EV production ramps up, the source of materials for battery production will run dry and they will have to keep stripping old ones.

I can see this becoming another plastic recycling problem all over again, everyone keeps saying "oh yes we have X amount of new tech just around the corner and it's great and will make recycling a breeze" and then 10yrs down the line it turns out there's issues with every single one of those technologies and no one bothers.

[northernladuk]

Disagree. I don't think it's going to be a rosy as some think, and it's not plain sailing to 100% EV. No battery expert at all but from people who seem to be there is a lot of hope for some revolutionary new technology around the corner.

I think the biggest issue is pretty much all countries, including Western ones, will need to undergo post WW2 infrastructure modernisation to upgrade the grid. It's not something I see talked about a lot.

You could have said that about tyres at one point and that never got done. All the countries that are used as dumps for old ships, tyres you name it will suffer the brunt of it. It will be cheaper to ship them to India/Bangladesh whereever and dump them.

[JustKeepSwimming]

You could have said that about tyres at one point and that never got done. All the countries that are used as dumps for old ships, tyres you name it will suffer the brunt of it. It will be cheaper to ship them to India/Bangladesh whereever and dump them.

The difference is the materials that go into batteries are scarce compared to rubber and steel. There is clear economic incentive to recycle batteries because the cost of fresh material is expensive and only going up, cobalt has doubled in like 3 years.

It's like saying 'No one will recycle gold because no one recycles plastic!' the economics are completely different.

[dsc]

The difference is the materials that go into batteries are scarce compared to rubber and steel. There is clear economic incentive to recycle batteries because the cost of fresh material is expensive and only going up, cobalt has doubled in like 3 years.

It's like saying 'No one will recycle gold because no one recycles plastic!' the economics are completely different.

It's still apparently more expensive to recycle then get "fresh" materials for production. I'm sure it will change, the issue is recycling creates a bunch of waste as well which you then need to do something with, it also eats up a loads of energy, so overall it's a "what's worse" kind of scenario.

Similar to hydrogen production, tulip ton of energy is needed and co2 is produced in the process, so so much for it being green.

[JustKeepSwimming]

It's still apparently more expensive to recycle then get "fresh" materials for production. I'm sure it will change, the issue is recycling creates a bunch of waste as well which you then need to do something with, it also eats up a loads of energy, so overall it's a "what's worse" kind of scenario.

Similar to hydrogen production, tulip ton of energy is needed and co2 is produced in the process, so so much for it being green.

It could be, but you just have to look at demand prediction and then supply/reserves, the figures don't match. That's before we get into the whole morality of what cobalt mining actually is.

Yes energy infrastructure needs full overhaul, this needs to happen regardless and its going to be very expensive. Decarbonisation of electricity has to happen regardless.