DEMAND SURGE Demand for used batteries for storage is likely to soar as intermittent renewable energy takes on a bigger role. "The big question is, if you have pretty valuable raw materials in a battery and you ask 'how can I get the most out of it?' the answer is recycling might be better," said Thomas Becker, head of sustainability at BMW, which has a second-life battery storage facility at its Leipzig plant. Although more energy- and therefore carbon-intensive, recycling also presents another form of competition to re-use as demand for cell materials makes it economically compelling. Car and battery-makers increasingly offer energy storage systems using new batteries - from Tesla to the UK's AMTE Power and even Croatian electric sports car maker Rimac. At that rate, it would cost $17,625 on the used market. The long-range Tesla Model 3 has a 75KWh battery pack. TWICE THE PRICE OF NEW Competition from outfits using EV batteries to power anything from fossil-fuel classic cars to boats pushed prices to $235 per kilowatt hour in late 2022, according to CES - around double the price major carmakers pay for new batteries. As EVs built a decade ago remain in use, Elmar Zimmerling, business development manager for automotive at German second-life battery startup Fenecon, said there was "as good as no market for second-life batteries" at present, although he predicts a "tsunami" of batteries within the next five years. "The 80% threshold is an arbitrary number that does not reflect the real-life usage of EVs," CES' Melin said. according to S&P Global Mobility - suggests many EVs will stay on the road for years to come even if their batteries are depleted. The rising average age of fossil-fuel cars on the road - now a record 12.5 years in the U.S. The problem is a lack of old EV batteries that shows no sign of easing. In addition, carmakers from Mercedes to Nissan have set up their own second-life operations. Investors believing in the circular economy, where products and materials are repaired and re-used, have provided around $1 billion in funding to nearly 50 startups globally, according to Reuters calculations. As EV batteries' capacity falls below 80%-85% after eight-to-10 years of use, the theory goes, they will be repurposed to power buildings or even balance local and national energy grids. The second-life energy storage idea is in theory simple.
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