A couple of companies in the United Kingdom are working on a battery recycling effort that may sound a bit macabre.
But, if successful, the project will help to reduce air pollution by more fully using electric vehicle batteries.
Altilium and Lunaz intend to turn old diesel trucks into EV vampires that haul nearly spent EV batteries to recycling facilities. In a nod to Dracula, the upcycled trucks will suck the last vestiges of life out of the batteries along the way, extending the haulers' range, according to a report on the project from Altilium.
Experts from both companies plan to leverage their experience in recycling and EV tech to reduce air pollution generated from battery recycling by 5%. The goal is to haul 200,000 nearly dead batteries each year to Altilium's Teesside recycling facility. That plant is set to open in 2026, according to The EV Report.
"Millions of EV batteries will need to be transported by the next decade for recycling or a second life. We are committed to … development of a domestic circular economy for battery metals," Altilium CEO Kamran Mahdavi said in a Commercial Motor (CM) report.
Efficient recycling is important because demand for EVs is rising. At the same time, rare metals needed to power the batteries are expensive and hard to harvest.
Greenpeace reports that 12.85 million tons of EV batteries "will go offline" through 2030. Meanwhile, 10.35 million tons of crucial metals needed for the power packs — including lithium, cobalt, and nickel — will be dug from the Earth to resupply EV production.
The U.K. partners' plan would reuse those precious elements after they have more fully served their purpose to power EVs as part of a circular economy in the industry, per The EV Report.
It's all part of the headlines filling Altilium's news section on its website, which includes new factories, partnerships, and sustainability plans.
The Lunaz team has made a name by upcycling classic cars, including Bentleys and Jaguars, turning them into cleaner EVs. CM reports that the company can modernize 1,110 cars a year.
The reused diesel haulers that Lunaz is working on with Altrilium won't require the aesthetic precision needed when the team refits an Aston Martin.
But, the last gasps from the batteries the rigs will be hauling (and in part powered by) will contribute to a second life for the trucks and battery parts, as well as reduce air pollution.
"By unlocking the power of upcycling, something we are now able to do at every stage of our unique process, we can provide even greater value and an ever-lessening carbon footprint," Lunaz founder David Lorenz told CM.
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