While electric vehicles (EV) are widely viewed as a scalable green mobility solution, running on batteries may pose an impact on the environment as battery retirement concerns arise. New innovations are emerging across the battery value chain from raw materials and cell components to battery management and sustainability. Governments and companies worldwide are participating in battery recycling efforts to ease battery material demand and alleviate supply chain concerns. As EV adoption continues to scale, regulators are drafting new laws for battery waste management. Read more here: https://bit.ly/36mSeft

1. Vertex Perspectives | E-mobility
5-part series on e-mobility
For more info, drop us an email at
communications@vertexholdings.com
Battery Recycling &
Power Electronics

2. Currently, retired batteries end up at recycling facilities,
second-life application or disposal facilities
Extract rare materials from retired
batteries to manufacture new ones
Repurpose retired batteries
Second-life Application
Appropriate disposal of retired batteries to
minimise environmental impact
Disposal Facilities
Recycling Facilities
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |

3. 03
01
Battery
Recycling and
Second-life
applications
are emerging
alternatives
Enabling localisation and a
circular supply chain
Managing large volume of
retired EV batteries
Providing an environmentally
friendly option
02
These alternatives may alleviate supply
chain and battery retirement concerns.
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |

4. Producing end-of-life recycling and second-life application
batteries are inefficient, costly and challenging
End-of-Life Recycling Second-Life Application
Less than 50% of the batteries' key components
(i.e. nickel and cobalt) are recovered
Varying battery cells sizes and chemistries further complicates the
production process
Stiff market competition and the flexibility to cater
for varying cell chemistries, shapes and sizes have
increased the cost to recover retired batteries
Disassembling
battery
Battery cell
testing, grading
and matching
Rebuilding
Casing
Reassembly of repurposed
battery before selling
Integrating Cells with Inverter
Software
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |

5. Growing
automotive
interest in
second-life
batteries
Automakers and startups are looking
at ways to repurpose batteries.
Groupe Renault is launching stationary energy storage systems made with old
EV batteries.​
Audi is working with German-Indian startup Nunam to repurpose used e-tron
battery modules into solar nanogrids.
Nissan Motor uses old Leaf batteries to power Automated Guide Vehicles
(AGVs) used in their manufacturing facilities.
Lucid Motors batteries can be used in its EV and energy storage products,
allowing them to be repurposed for industrial and residential applications.
BMW i3 model uses a “plug-and-play” concept so that they can be easily
removed and inserted into second-life applications.
BYD partnered Chinese startup and Japanese trading house Itochu to
transform old EV batteries into power storage for renewable energy and
factories.
Source: Renault, Audi, SlashGear, TechCrunch, Nikkei Asia
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |

6. Redwood utilises residual energy in the batteries to
drive the recycling process. The remaining material
is then used to recover individual compounds.​
New innovations are arising to commercialise
battery recycling at scale
XProEM has patented Solid-State Subtractive Metallurgy
(S3M), a different approach to pyrometallurgy that
promises to be more environmentally friendly.
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |
Source: Mtaiq, Xproem

7. Governments and companies are participating in
battery recycling efforts
Source: Reuters, SCMP, Europarl, BCG Analysis
GOVERNMENTS
US EV plan includes battery
recycling to reduce reliance on
mines from ally countries
China accounts for 77% of EV
battery recycling capacity in
Asia
EU Batteries Directive sets
specific take back and recycling
requirements for EV batteries
&
EV BATTERY
RECYCLERS
Li-on Cell and Cell Component Manufacturers
Automotive OEMs
Nissan and Suzuki participated in battery recycling efforts through joint ventures.
Independent Recyclers
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |

8. EV sales will make up 70% of
all car sales in China by 2030
With the increase in EV adoption globally, regulators are
setting new laws for battery waste management
6.5M households plan to
purchase an EV by 2030
Some countries are gearing up to electrify their
networks, ramping up demand for batteries
Plans to achieve 18.7M
EVs Sales by 2030
Regulators are discussing Extended Producer
Responsibility (EPR) laws for EV batteries
Regulating EV batteries reuse to ensure
sustainable production of EV batteries
District of Columbia passed the first
all-battery producer responsibility law
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |

9. Cell components
USD
11B
8.3%
USD
3.6B
Innovations in the battery value chain
Companies and startups are developing solutions at different stages of the value chain
SES is a Vertex Ventures China
portfolio company
Adapted from Interclation Station
RAW MATERIALS BATTERY MANAGEMENT SUSTAINABILITY
CELL COMPONENTS
Extraction, Processing Electrolyte, Electrode AI, BMS, Power Electronics Recycling, Reuse
8.3%
USD
38B
4.9%
11.9%
USD
17.2B
6.1%
CAGR
2020-2027
CAGR
2021-2026
CAGR
2020-2025 CAGR
2020-2025
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |

10. Power Electronics is producing next-generation
technologies in the battery management space
Hence, Wide Band-Gap (WBG) semi-conductors are taking over:
Silicon Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors (Si IGBTs) are the dominant semi-conductors used in power
electronics but are not ideal due to:
Limited conversion speed Low state conduction losses Expensive thermal management measures
Silicon Carbide (SiC)
for high voltage/power applications
Gallium nitride (GaN)
for lower-voltage and power
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |

11. SiC reduces the overall cost and enhances performance
while GaN offers multiple mid-power applications
Replacement of Si IGBTs to SiCs can potentially
reduce the production cost of an EV by USD 2,000.
ENHANCED PERFORMANCE
Sillicon Carbide (SiC)
Tesla Model S Plaid accelerates to 100kph in 2.1 seconds
making it the world's fastest accelerating mass-produced car.
Hyundai IONIQ 5 is able to charge up to 80% of its full power
in 18 minutes due to SiC's added efficiency.
LOWER COST
Gallium Nitride (GaN)
Used in numerous mid-power applications, and has wider applications
in Autonomous Vehicles (AV).
Wireless Charging Power Supply
LiDAR Photovoltic
Audio Amplifier UPS DC-DC Converter EV/ HEV
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |
Source: Avnet, Inside EVs

12. Automakers are
partnering
suppliers and
switching to
WBG semi-
conductors
With the release of the Model 3 in 2018, Tesla became the first
company to add SiC semi-conductors into its in-house inverter design.
Renault Group and STMicroelectronics agreed on the supply of SiC
and GaN products for new-energy vehicles from 2026 to 2030.
Hyundai Motor Company has placed an order for 800V SiC inverters
from Vitesco Technologies (Germany).
BYD announced that by 2023 it will achieve full replacement of
Si IGBTs with SiC automotive power semiconductor devices.​
Lotus Ejiva's prototype is integrating SiC inverters from Integral
Powertrain Ltd. ​
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |
Source: IDTechEx, Renault, Vitesco, Gasgoo, Integral Powertrain

13. Strong competition globally among the
WBG semi-conductors companies
GALLIUM
NITRIDE
&
SILICON
CARBIDE
Wolfspeed Inc, the largest pure-play SiC
company, announced in 2020 that it would invest
USD 1B to expand its manufacturing capacity.
Tongguang Crystal is the first
enterprise in China to achieve mass
production of the third generation
SiC single crystal substrate.
STMicroelectronics acquired
Swedish SiC wafer manufacturer
Norstel for USD137.5M in Feb 2019.
Startups such as Odyssey Semiconductor and VisIC
Technologies, are both developing high-voltage power
switches and modules.
Mature startups such as GaN Systems and Navitas
Semiconductor are using power switching
components which have been identified in product
“teardowns”.
Source: Wolfspeed, SMM News, ST Microelectronics, Odyssey Semi-conductors, Visic, Forbes
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |

14. 01
02
03
SECOND-LIFE APPLICATION
POWER ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGIES
Possible applications for
second-life batteries include
solar or wind power storage
In summary...
Automakers are beginning to adopt battery recycling to ease the
demand on scarce battery materials and alleviate supply chain concerns.
BATTERY RECYCLING
To better manage waste from retired EV batteries, automakers and battery manufacturers
are looking at ways to repurpose retired EV cells.
Today, Si IGBT is the predominant semi-conductor used which has high cost and low power efficiency.
WBG semi-conductors are gaining traction due to their low cost and high power efficiency. GALLIUM
NITRIDE
SILICON
CARBIDE
BATTERY RECYCLING AND POWER ELECTRONICS |

15. In Part IV of our five-part series, we introduce the EV charging methods and dive into charging
technologies. From exploring the various charging methods to understanding the perks it brings,
find out how charge point operators, fleet managers, consumers and businesses could benefit
from a connected charging infrastructure.
What's charging an EV?
EV Charging & the next frontier
C O M I N G U P N E X T . . .
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