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Dr Sara Ridley, Engineering and Quality Director at Autocraft Solutions Group, parent company to Autocraft EV Solutions, explains why OEMs need to embrace EV battery remanufacturing if they are to achieve their net zero goals.
Why is remanufacturing so important for EVs?
When EVs were first introduced, most of the industry believed batteries wouldn’t fail. Experience has shown otherwise. As a result, many faulty batteries containing healthy cells are being prematurely recycled.
Although recycling is an integral part of EV battery circularity, it is much better for the planet to maximise the longevity of battery packs and their individual cells in the first instance. Recycling should only become an option once we have extracted every last bit of value from batteries. Remanufacturing can help with this, restoring batteries to an optimal state of health so that they remain in use for as long as possible. This negates the need to produce replacement batteries, resulting in significant cost savings and a drastically reduced environmental footprint.
What is EV battery remanufacturing?
Automotive remanufacturing is the process of restoring used automotive parts to like-new condition. Unlike engines, however, it is not possible to restore an EV battery to the original manufacturer specification.
From the moment a battery is created, there is a continuous aging process that occurs as a result of the battery chemistry. Known as calendar aging, this type of degradation is irreversible and continues throughout the battery life.
The other primary type of degradation, known as cyclical aging, is determined entirely by how the battery is used. The way an EV is charged and driven is directly correlated to its health, longevity, and susceptibility to failure. Fortunately, this type of aging is reversible and is therefore the focal point of the remanufacturing process, which seeks to return the battery to the highest possible level of performance for its age.
How does the process work?
In years gone by, a battery failure would have caused a whole pack to be scrapped. What we now know is that when an EV battery fault happens, it typically occurs within a small group of cells, with the majority of cells still perfectly healthy and functional.
A battery module will only perform to the level of its weakest cell. Autocraft’s world-class REVIVE® dynamic testing capability enables us to pinpoint faults at a cellular level, often before they’ve even occurred. An early intervention is crucial, as this prevents the fault from spreading.
Once the problematic area has been identified, we can then remanufacture packs by replacing underperforming cells with healthy ones, which will have been subjected to our rigorous dynamic testing methodology to determine their state of health. This gives us an unrivalled picture of battery state of health, allowing us to accurately predict the improvement of replacing one or multiple cells, depending on the required level of performance.
Additionally, the process can be undertaken at regular intervals throughout the vehicle lifetime to offset a drop in battery range. Eliminating the potential for failure is an important step in instilling confidence in EV as a reliable alternative to ICE.
What are the environmental and financial benefits for OEMs?
Despite the immense progress that has been made in the field of EV batteries, we cannot overlook the vulnerabilities of the technology. Some estimates put the total failure rate of EV batteries at 1.5%, requiring OEMs to have a contingency plan for when faults occur during the warranty period.
Battery remanufacturing represents a significantly more cost-effective alternative to producing a new battery. There is also a clear environmental benefit for increasingly sustainability-conscious OEMs, since the amount of energy and resources used when remanufacturing a battery pack is a mere fraction of that required to produce a new one.
One of the barriers to widespread adoption of EVs is the potential risk of battery degradation. With the right testing, repair and remanufacturing capability, we can virtually eliminate this possibility. Once people understand there is a cost-effective way to restore EV battery health to good levels, confidence in EV will continue to grow. This is particularly important for the used EV market, boosting demand for older vehicles. The longer these vehicles remain in use, the greater their environmental value to offset the energy and materials used in production.
How effective is this process?
Our REVIVE® EV battery testing and repair capability has enabled us to carry out thousands of successful fault-free repairs. But this process isn’t easy, the reliability and safety challenges are well-documented, making us possibly the only company who can deliver this kind of service at scale.
We have developed the first ever fully-industrialised process for EV battery testing, repair and remanufacturing. The speed and sophistication of our testing allows us to identify the root cause of battery faults with unparalleled speed and accuracy. We then use a combination of technologies such as LiDAR safety systems, and position controlled tooling including our patented ARIA® augmented reality to guide technicians through the optimal repair process. Not only is this much quicker than a manual intervention, any non-compliance with the optimal repair sequence or safety protocols will trigger an automatic shutdown until the issue is resolved. Each step is documented via cloud-based software to evidence the reliability of the process, shielding OEMs from the reputational and financial cost of repeat failures.
We believe that we have truly set the standard for EV battery repair and remanufacture, and that the wider industry needs to embrace this level of precision if EV is to fulfil its potential.
What will the future of EV look like?
Although we’ve seen EVs account for many new car sales, there is still apprehension around used EVs and we see this as an obstacle to uptake.
Whereas ICE vehicles are a known quantity and there are clearly defined procedures for repair, many still have doubts around how to manage long-term EV battery health, particularly outside of the warranty period. We believe Autocraft’s work plays a crucial role in instilling confidence in EVs and that we have developed a viable, scalable methodology in response to this industry challenge. Embracing this mindset will be critical to unlocking the full performance and environmental potential of EV.
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