Ecobat, Nissan to explore EV battery recycling in UK

A new partnership between Japanese automaker Nissan and battery recycler Ecobat Solutions UK Ltd., a division of Dallas-based Ecobat, aims to give a second life to spent electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

The companies are working together to investigate how EV batteries from Nissan Leaf models that are no longer on the road can be located within the United Kingdom salvage network and safely recovered, repaired, recycled or repurposed to create a sustainable circular energy economy. Nissan launched the Leaf EV in 2011 and hopes to lead the way in the processing of end-of-life EV batteries as the industry continues to grow.

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The strategic pilot agreement combines Nissan’s battery expertise and Ecobat Solutions UK’s recycling knowledge and will look for ways to commercialize the process of locating, safely transporting, dismantling, repairing and repurposing EV batteries for second-life usage. In addition, the partners say Nissan could then offer those second-life products to the market with the added reassurance of an official manufacturer warranty.

Nissan adds that this project also supports its goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 across its operations and the life cycle of its products.

“We are working together with Ecobat to assess how we engage with salvage operators, manage transportation, test, repair and reuse electric vehicle batteries in order to understand the commercial value chain,” says Alan Low, EV battery circular economy manager at Nissan Energy Services. “These are batteries from cars that have been dismantled due to old age or that have been written off by insurers, however, the batteries themselves still have an opportunity to be reused. They still have a useful life ahead of them, so we need to create a sustainable way of recovering them. Nissan takes its obligations seriously and is keen to recover batteries in a good state of health from any Leaf batteries that are no longer required.”

Once located, the partners say batteries will be assessed and transported to Ecobat’s Darlaston facility, located near Birmingham, using specialist vehicles. There, further checks will be carried out based on Nissan expertise and processes to determine their long-term safety and performance, allowing Nissan to identify suitable second-life applications that include battery energy storage systems such as emergency power backup or power balancing, and mobile power charging systems.

Batteries that don’t make the grade will safely be prepared for recycling, the companies say.

“We provide a specialist offering for battery handling, with highly skilled engineers that are trained to work on high-voltage batteries, in full compliance with UK battery regulations,” says Tom Seward, EU key accounts director at Ecobat Solutions UK. “This is a critical piece of the EV sustainability picture that has real environmental benefits. We even recover any energy stored in the salvaged battery and use it to provide power to the onsite EV charger network at our site.”

Ecobat says that, since its opening in 2021, its UK Diagnostic and Disassembly Centre has processed more than 6,000 batteries and performance graded more than 14,000 modules. This year, the company says it will open its third lithium-ion recycling facility in the UK.