Porsche Builds Battery Cell with 100% Recycled Cathode Material
Porsche has developed a battery cell with a cathode entirely composed of recycled material from its own old packs. This achievement is significant in light of European law, which will mandate the use of 6% recycled lithium and 6% recycled nickel in new batteries starting August 2031.
Porsche, in collaboration with the Aachen recycler cylib, has successfully produced pilot battery cells where all the cathode active material, including lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese, originated from Porsche's end-of-life packs. This represents a crucial step towards a closed-loop battery recycling system.
The batteries utilized in this process were sourced from Porsche centers in Germany, with processing commencing in May using a water-based method. Recycled materials are expected to be integrated into production cells by 2028, with initial tests indicating technical viability.
Porsche is also an investor in cylib, having co-led the company's €55M funding round in May 2024 alongside World Fund and Bosch Ventures. cylib, a spin-off from RWTH Aachen, claims a recovery rate of over 90% for its recycling process.
European regulations will gradually increase recycled content requirements: 6% lithium, 15% nickel, and 26% cobalt by 2036. While these numbers are lower than the desired 100% loop, they represent a significant step towards sustainable battery production.
Other European firms, such as Tozero, are also active in this domain, aiming to process substantial volumes of battery waste using water-based methods. However, the current challenge lies in arithmetic rather than chemistry, given the limited number of old European EV batteries available due to the dominance of foreign manufacturers in the European market.