What is Second Life Battery
Description
Second Life Battery refers to the power batteries that have been retired from electric vehicles and energy storage systems,usually regard 80% initial capacity as the retiring condition, and after testing, repairing and reorganizing, they are used in secondary use batteries in scenarios with low performance requirements,at its core, it is about extending the life cycle of batteries, achieving efficient recycling of resources and environmental goals.
1.Main application scenarios
1.1 Energy Storage System
For example, household energy storage, grid peak shaving, etc., the requirements for battery capacity and life are lower than those of electric vehicles.
1.2 Low-speed vehicles
Such as electric bicycles, tricycles, sightseeing cars, etc., the battery life demand is low.
1.3 Standby power supply
For example, Solar street light,base stations, emergency power supplies, etc., have high requirements for battery stability but limited capacity requirements.
2. Advantage
2.1 Environmental protection and resource conservation
Reduce the pollution caused by the direct scrapping of batteries, and make full use of scarce metal resources such as lithium and cobalt.
2.2 Cost advantage
The price of echelon batteries is about 30%-50% of that of new batteries, which is suitable for cost-sensitive scenarios.
2.3 Policy support
Many countries encourage the cascade utilization of batteries, such as China’s inclusion in the new energy vehicle industry chain planning.
3. Disadvantage
3.1 Performance degradation
Second Life battery capacity is typically reduced to 60%-80% of original capacity, with shorter cycle life.
3.2 Security Risks
Aging batteries may have hidden dangers such as thermal runaway and short circuit, which need to be strictly screened and tested.
3.3 Technical challenges
Poor battery consistency, difficulty in assessing remaining life, and increased recycling and restructuring costs.
4. Technical Challenges and Trends
Key technologies: battery state of health (SOH) assessment, grouping technology, remaining life prediction.
Standardization: Unify battery recycling standards and promote cross-industry cooperation.
Future prospects: With the progress of battery management technology and the expansion of market demand, cascade utilization will become an important part of the battery industry chain.
The promotion of cascade batteries is not only a technical issue, but also requires the cooperation of policies, markets and enterprises to jointly build a sustainable battery ecological closed loop.