Potential of electric vehicle batteries second use in energy storage systems: The case of China

Battery second use, which extracts additional values from retired electric vehicle batteries through repurposing them in energy storage systems, is promising in reducing the demand for new batteries. However, the potential scale of battery second use and the consequent battery conservation benefits are largely unexplored. This study bridges such a research gap by simulating the dynamic interactions between vehicle batteries and batteries used in energy storage systems in China's context. Battery supply, use and disposal with and without implementing battery second use are compared. The results show that until 2050, more than 16 TWh of Li-ion batteries are expected to be retired from electric vehicles. If these retired batteries are put into second use, the accumulative new battery demand of battery energy storage systems can be reduced from 2.1 to 5.1 TWh to 0–1.4 TWh under different scenarios, implying a 73–100% decrease. This research justifies the necessity of developing battery second use and calls for joint efforts from the government, industry and academia.