Korea concerned on toxic waste from used EV batteries, Hyundai proposes ESS

Believe it or not, although battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrids are the trend now, very few countries know what to do with discarded high voltage batteries used in such vehicles.

Even Korea, which has a goal of putting 300,000 zero emission cars (BEVs or FCEVs) on the road, don’t have the necessary infrastructure to recycle used EV batteries, at least not one that can operate on a large scale.

In fact, China is the only country to have large scale EV battery recycling infrastructure in place, capable of processing all types of EV batteries.

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The country has also recently barred government agencies and public organizations from buying combustion engine cars for their fleet. Only EVs or hybrids are allowed.

At its current trajectory, Korea expects to have 100,000 discarded used EV batteries by 2030, so the country urgently needs a solution fast.

Currently, used EV batteries are collected by the local government, which provide subsidies for EV purchases. With few suitably equipped recycling facility, used EV batteries have stacking up inside government storage facilities.

The recycling of batteries is a complex and heavily regulated process, due to the obvious environmental impact of the heavy metals used inside it.

Korea’s regulations don’t allow car manufacturers to undertake the recycling of EV batteries (a separate license and certification is necessary) but in order to quickly solve the problem, the Korean government has adapted a ‘sandbox’ approach to temporarily ease such restrictions to incentivize more companies to propose solutions.

The support this, the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to invest 1.3 billion Won (RM 6.2 million) by 2024 to prepare testing methods for used batteries, explore their applications and incorporate them in renewable energy projects.

As the country’s leading car manufacturer, the Hyundai Motor Group is obligated to shoulder the responsibility of solving the environmental problem.

Hyundai is now conducting a pilot trial with a 2 MWh energy storage system (ESS), where discarded EV batteries can be reused to store excess electricity generated by photovoltaic solar panels.

The power stored can be feed back into the power grid, thus stabilizing the grid’s peak demand power.

The ESS is currently being tested at the company’s Ulsan plant.

With more used EV batteries coming, the company plans to expand its ESS’ capacity to 3 GWh, which will make it the largest in the world.

Hyundai is also working with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. as well as solar panel manufacture OCI Co. and Hanwha Q Cells Co. to trial the ESS concept.

The ESS concept is not new. All leading car manufacturers including Toyota and Nissan are conducting their own ESS trials. The problem with large scale adoption of ESS is regarding compatibility, as EV batteries come with various size, format, and storage capacity.