Kia strikes deal to re-use and recycle EV batteries, offering second life in cars or the grid

Car company Kia Australia has partnered with battery replacement company Infinitev to better reuse, repurpose and recycle electric vehicle batteries in Australia.

“We are currently in the very early stages of developing a solution tailored to Kia customers that will allow their electric vehicle batteries to be refurbished instead of discarded,” said Damien Meredith, the CEO at Kia Australia.

“What happens to an electric vehicle battery at the end of its life is an important consideration when it comes to EV buyers, so this is a very significant program.”

Once an EV battery has come in for checking, Infinitev would both check the EV battery to ensure there are no potential fire risks, but also assess the performance of the battery pack to then split it into three categories.

‘A grade’ modules could be reused back into EVs as part of a refurbished battery. This is part of Infinitev’s business model currently.

The ‘B grade’ modules would be repurposed for energy storage systems, as even if they are no longer useful for cars, batteries from EVs normally have plenty of life left.

Finally, ‘C grade’ modules would be sent for recycling with one of Infinitev’s partners.

“We are proud to have a holistic solution that addresses the environmental concerns associated with electric vehicle batteries,” says Dickson Leow, the general manager of Infinitev, which is a subsidiary of the listed company GUD Holdings.

“Our innovative reuse approach ensures that the transition to a circular economy is not only sustainable but also reduces waste and preserves valuable resources. Through responsible battery management, we can accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and build a greener Australia.”

EV batteries are a potential major problem if not addressed. However, some Australian companies are able to extract almost all of the lithium and other important metals from discarded batteries.

While more processes need to be put in place to fully ‘circularise’ the system and have the recycled lithium go back into batteries, this is something that we may see in the next few years.

But batteries don’t need to be discarded and recycled straight away. Once they leave the car, they can still be effectively used for energy storage on a home, or even grid scale.

This both extends the life of the car battery, making it more economic, but also stops the battery having to go through the intensive recycling process if it still has plenty of ‘juice’ left to use for energy storage.