Abstract
Some have raised concerns regarding the contribution of lithium-ion battery pack production to the total electric vehicle energy and emissions profile versus internal combustion vehicles, and about potential battery end-of-life issues. This detailed life cycle analysis (LCA) examines these issues and identifies potential hot-spots within the battery pack life cycle for five cathode materials and a proposed lithium metal anode. The battery assembly stage, identified by some as an energy concern, is determined to be problematic only for “pioneer” plants (i.e. low-throughput facilities), but not for at-capacity plants, and battery electric vehicles with batteries from either facility type outperform conventional vehicles in terms of lowering GHG emissions. For at-capacity plants, the battery materials dominate energy impacts, with cathode materials representing 10–50% of that energy, depending on cathode type. Recycling can further mitigate battery life-cycle impacts, while also being economically attractive for all cathode materials, even those with low elemental values.
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© 2016 TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society)
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Dunn, J.B., Gaines, L., Kelly, J.C., Gallagher, K.G. (2016). Life Cycle Analysis Summary for Automotive Lithium-Ion Battery Production and Recycling. In: Kirchain, R.E., et al. REWAS 2016. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48768-7_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48768-7_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-48618-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-48768-7
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