The US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) has announced US$1.08 million in funding to spur development of lithium-ion battery recycling in Massachusetts.
USABC, a collaborative organisation of American car manufacturers, General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, is backing the second phase of the lithium recycling contract by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
The contract will fund a two-year project and includes a 50% cost share. WPI will use the capital “to demonstrate the ability of its process to recycle spent lithium-ion batteries and produce new cathode material to generate a higher nickel cathode powder”, USABC said. Higher nickel content cathode materials are favoured for their energy density benefits.
USABC is a subsidiary of the US Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), and is enabled by a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Energy.
USCAR executive director Steve Zimmer said: “Programmes like this are critical to advancing the technology needed to meet both near- and long-term goals that will enable broader scale vehicle electrification.”
The USABC’s mission is “to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialisation of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles. Battery recycling does not feature currently on their list of stated objectives.
