For some people on the fence about whether to join the green driving wave， issues with power batteries is what is holding them back. Last summer， a rainstorm drenched one person’s confidence in new energy vehicles （NEV）. Surnamed Gao from Shangqiu of central China’s Henan Province， owns a Chery eQ， a Chinese NEV model. The car’s battery got flooded in his garage during the storm and subsequently died. He was told the only solution was to buy another battery.
　　A new battery would cost him 69，000 yuan（$10，258）， which was 10，000 yuan （$1，500） more than the price of a new car of the same model. The fact that it’s more expensive to buy a new battery than a new car annoyed Gao， as well as a group of NEV buyers.
　　Power batteries have become a sticking point for NEVs because of their high cost， short lifespan and limited mileage. In addition to the accidentally damaged ones like Gao’s， the fi rst batch of power batteries， with an average fi veyear lifetime， has begun to reach retirement age.
　　“The year 2020 will mark a large-scale retirement of power batteries，” Xin Guobin， Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology （MIIT）， said. According to a report released in February by the MIIT， retired batteries in China will amount to about 25 GWh in 2020， mainly from the Beijing-TianjinHebei Area， the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta regions. Local governments subsidize buyers of NEVs to ease air pollution and reduce carbon dioxide emission. In Gao’s case， a subsidy would only apply if he bought a new car， not just a new battery.
　　As a leading producer of NEVs， China’s total output has exceeded 2.8 million， coupled with an accumulated 131 GWh power batteries， ranking fi rst in the world in terms of scale， the report said. More batteries are expected to be produced with the fast growth of the NEV industry， making recycling a pressing issue.
　　“It is imperative to promote the comprehensive development of waste battery utilization industries， which should feature resource recycling， and large-scale and high-value development，” Xin said.
　　Recycling and utilization
　　Some industry insiders predicted that by disassembling， testing and sorting the battery for second-time use， its cost could be reduced by up to 60 percent， which would be conducive to the healthy and sustainable development of the NEV industry.
　　Moreover， aside from the economic value， if decommissioned power batteries are not prop-erly disposed of or utilized for maximum value， they will threaten public safety， wreak havoc with the ecosystem and waste valuable metal resources， the report said. 　　Currently， there are two ways of dealing with retired batteries： cascade utilization or dismantling and recycling. Cascade utilization is when batteries once used for high-powered products like NEVs， shift to serving low-powered devices. At present， this method can only be applied to power batteries that are mildly worn out. When the batteries are thoroughly spent after cascaded use， they will be dismantled and recycled. Through dismantling， sorting， refi ning and smelting， some valuable metallic elements can be recycled.
　　According to the report， power batteries cannot fully meet the needs of automobiles when they fall below 80 percent of total capacity， which is when they are transferred to cascade utilization， mainly for power backup services， or energy storage.
　　By extracting additional revenue from the retired battery after being used in an NEV， the total lifespan of the battery is increased， and the cost of the battery can be shared between both the NEV and downstream users.
　　In 2018， China Tower， the world’s largest telecommunications tower infrastructure service provider， stopped purchasing lead-acid batteries and is advocating the cascade utilization of lithium batteries by deploying battery backup applications at 120，000 base stations in 31 provinces and expanding businesses in power backup， energy storage and electricity exporting. State Grid Corp. of China， a stateowned power supplier， constructed a storage system for cascade utilization of 1 MWh lithium iron phosphate batteries， to receive power generated by renewable energies. Battery products under cascade utilization for standby power， wind and solar power storage have been developed by enterprises such as BYD Auto， a Chinese auto manufacturer.
　　“In terms of its development trend， cascade utilization has a bright outlook，” the report said. Some companies are pondering new business models for cascade utilization such as leasing instead of selling batteries.
　　Currently， the dismantling and recycling industry has been developing with some companies realizing industrialized production. Companies like GEM Co. Ltd. and Brunp Recycling， which have developed from waste electrical and electronic products processing enterprises and non-ferrous metal smelting refi nery enterprises， are armed with well-developed devices and techniques.


　　In spite of recent developments， the whole industry is still at its fl edgling stage with some bottlenecks. For instance， the current cascaded use of old batteries is not effi cient enough and some technical issues still exist such as the lim- ited lifespan of retired batteries. In addition， in terms of dismantling and recycling， the recovery rate of lithium and the compatibility of various batteries are relatively low. 　　Joint efforts
　　A complete system for recycling old power batteries is needed to address the problems， which requires cooperation among the government， automobile enterprises and battery processing companies so as to achieve scale production and increase economic benefi ts.
　　In 2018， the Chinese Government launched guidelines to build a management mechanism for the recycling and utilization of power batteries， ensure requirements for tracking the source of batteries， stipulate responsibilities in every link of the recycling and set up a comprehensive management platform for tracking.
　　Regions in different parts of China are also stepping up their efforts in constructing new systems. In 2018， the governments of Beijing， Tianjin and north China’s Hebei Province jointly issued a guideline to choose pilot projects in every link of recycling and explore new ways and models that are replicable and transferable and stipulated that by 2020， there should be an orderly and sustainable system. The Pearl River Delta， with Shenzhen in south China’s Guangdong Province as a model， also committed to building such system based on the idea of Internet Plus Supervision.
　　Car companies are also entering into bat- tery businesses， as they spot the great potential of the market. Beijing Electric Vehicle Co. Ltd.， an NEV manufacturer， created a new model by establishing battery stations where users can exchange batteries instead of charging them， which helps with the collection， tracking and sustainable management of the batteries. The retired ones will be made into power storage devices， while exploration is underway to use photovoltaic power to charge them. BYD is building recycling channels and letting its dealers collect the batteries， which will be used for household power storage and a standby power source for base stations.
　　Although the battery reuse and recycling business is vigorously growing， there are still limitations and uncertainties. “Currently， we lack guidelines and standards to measure the reliability and processing methods of recycling. In cases of cascade utilization， for example， if the retired NEV batteries are to be made into chargers， which will then be sold to individual consumers， there is no way to track or collect them for ultimate bio-safety disposal，”Zhou Li， Vice Director of the Guangdong Association of Circular Economy and Resources Comprehensive Utilization， said. “In the future， it is crucial for the government to accelerate the issuance of relevant national and industrial standards for the recycling and utilization of retired power batteries.”