An exhaust heat recovery system turns waste heat energy in exhaust gases into electric energy for batteries or mechanical energy reintroduced on the crankshaft. The technology is of increasing interest as car and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers continue to increase efficiency, saving fuel and reducing emissions.
Hitachi has developed capacity recovery technology to extend the service life of Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) built into power storage systems in a non-destructive manner. This innovation promotes a shift to mainly renewable energy power sources for power systems and a transition to electric mobility.
After retired power batteries have passed the residual energy test, they can still be used in different scenarios, such as energy storage, distributed photovoltaic power generation, household electricity, and low-speed EVs (Figure 3B), also known as the gradient utilization. [70, 71] As a consequence, their unspent energy can continue to be tapped.
Battery capacity can be recovered though reactivation of the lithium ions not contributing to battery charge and discharge, by combining battery diagnostics and electrochemical process
The scale of retired power batteries will surge after 2030. For batteries that are not completely exhausted, it is a waste of resources and energy to directly judge them to recycle, and the best way is to continue their value.
Given the increasing development of electric vehicles, the volume of EV lithium–ion batteries (EVBs) available for repurposing or recycling is expected to grow substantially within the next 5–10 years. Estimates suggest that by 2030, 120 GWh/year of EVBs will be available for recycling [ 31 ].