The Battery Life Cycle - A Glossary of Terms

The SAE Global Battery Traceability Standards Committee J3327 - an Introduction

The NSVRP Battery Registry

NSVRP - EV Shipboard Fire Events, Why this Matters and a Solution Framework

Why Battery Testing is Critical for the Transition to Electric Vehicles

A Basic Overview of EV Battery Chemistries and Technologies

EV Vehicles, EV Batteries and Current Domestic and Global Efforts to Support Economic Viability, Safety and Sustainability

There are significant efforts taking place in both North America, China, Europe and other parts of the world to advance the conversion from traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powered vehicles to ones using cleaner technologies - especially electric powered hybrid and full battery powered electric vehicles (EV). These evolutions are not without challenges, and as the technologies rapidly advance those advances create opportunities, business and environmental challenges, opportunities and industrial disruptions.

Over the past 25+ years substantial sums have been spent in advancing these efforts, both by governments and the private sector. Some have resulted in notable successes and others in many failures. The technology will continue to advance, and progress will continue. Today EV vehicles and hybrids are a permanent fixture in the evolution of vehicle transportation, and will continue to grow in market share regardless of the extent of government support and funding.

To evolve into a mature circular economy, efforts are actively underway for mandatory data labeling by manufacturers, material transfer reporting and safety requirements. This is an imperative and inevitably will move forward at a rapid and inevitable pace. Many governmental bodies, international organizations, research consortiums, trade groups, public interest not-for-profits, and international policy bodies are working on standards to help facilitate this migration and evolution.

One of the leading organizations working on these efforts is the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) which was tasked with a leading role in this initiative and which - along with governmental labs here and abroad, as well as other standards bodies - has multiple committees working on varying aspects of this evolution.

This document provides some links to specific reports and standards, as well as links to important challenges that must be met as the EV technology and marketplace continues to grow and evolve.

The Battery Passport is an international effort focused on documenting the provenance of materials and resources used in the manufacture of EV batteries, and for the tracking and tracing of the final disposition of those materials at the end of life for the battery. The Battery Passport is envisioned as a required regulation once standardized, and will apply to all manufactured batteries once it is codified. It is expected to apply in some form in both North America, the UK and the EU.

NSVRP is playing an active role as a participant in these committees and standards groups. We have developed and have provided a functioning Battery Registry that is cited and as part of the SAE J3327 Track and Trace global document, and through extension to other national and international standards bodies. The NSVRP Battery Registry is a voluntary, fully operation production implementation of the full Battery Life Cycle that is a full implementation of the SAE J3327 Appendix 1A standard.

The Battery Registry provides a distributed mechanism for tracking the life of a battery that has already been manufactured through its life cycle – including second life, reuse and transfers until the point of final disposal or conversion back to raw material. It is a program, recognized by SAE a compliant implementation of the new SAE and EU standards and is applicable for any vehicle batteries and battery cells and supports both pre-existing EVs and manufactured batteries even those manufactured well before the establishment of a Battery Passport.

It is important to note that in order to protect the driving public, and to ensure that data being reported to the OEM through telematics uploads is meaningful, it is essential that the vehicle battery identity and status is known and secure. NSVRP has identified situations where batteries have been surreptitiously swapped out of a vehicle and fraudulently replaced.  An example of one such undocumented and fraudulent replacement is provided here. The vehicle start-up power on test (POST) did not include a direct check that the battery in the vehicle was changed - rather the vehicle only checked an intermediate module for the last recorded installed battery recorded in the vehicle module memory. As a result, the vehicle owner was unaware of the swap out, and the OEM telematics data feed was not provided an alert from the vehicle of the fact that the battery reporting back to the OEM was now a changed battery.

For the protection of all parties - owner, driver, OEM, and the general public - a check of the battery identity and of the state of health as confirmed from the Battery Management Unit (BMU) itself should be a mandatory POST requirement. Any deviation in battery identity or SOH should be flagged to the vehicle operator in the startup display cycle. When a vehicle flags a change in battery identity from that stored in the vehicle memory, the reason for that deviation should be resolved, and the battery be registered and calibrated in the vehicle systems. Additionally, the notification of the changed identity be reported to the OEM via telematics. Failure to update the vehicle internal master records to recognize and calibrate a new vehicle battery, or for the owner or OEM being unaware of these battery SOH or identity change issues can impact vehicle performance, warrantee claims, insurance liability claims, safety, fraud prevention and other public policy interests. The new SAE J2997 standard flags this loophole. OEMs should all work to include this functionality in their vehicle designs.

To maximize the effective use of EV batteries cannot just be limited to an initial use in a single vehicle and then turning around the battery into raw material (i.e. 'Black Mass') to begin a new cycle of battery manufacturing. The goal is to have the battery used for its 'Highest and Best Use' to maximize resource utilization efficiency, minimize the carbon foot print, and to draw down the greatest financial benefits throughout the battery life cycle.

One of the best ways to maximize resource EV battery residual value can be achieved by repurposing the end of first life EV battery for reuse in a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). Here are references to examples of three companies who have developed and deployed such systems. It should be noted that with any new technologies there can be issues, and lithium ion battery fires have occurred in at least one of the earliest constructed and largest BESS plants. While everyone knows that BESS systems are critical for energy policy, issues such as this have raised awareness in many circles - including within the federal administration and state governments - as issues that are needing to be addressed. 

Like most evolving technologies, Lithium Ion Batteries can have issues in terms of packaging and safety concerns. Included in this web resource are documents and links covering different emerging standards, transportation and safety issues, and other important policy areas of importance. These include examples of truck transports fires, large ocean transport vessels lost at sea to EV initiated fire events, and a resulting imposition of EV shipping restrictions by a major ocean transport vessel operating company. In addition to shipping companies, vehicle manufacturers, and marine insurers are some of the most immediately impacted by these fire events at sea. The potential implications from these types of events cannot be ignored. There are also multiple standards bodies, research labs and companies constantly working to advance the performance, endurance, safety and to further reduce the cost of EV battery technologies.

Lithium ion batteries are not the only available technology, and OEMs are always exploring, refining and evaluating alternatives in their efforts to maximize technological benefits and to stay competitive. There are tradeoffs between manufacturing costs, energy density, charging rates, safety and domestic supply and safety stability as well as other factors. As technology keeps advancing these various options will allow for other improved optimized solutions that will continue to lower costs, improve options for manufacturers and continue to evolve the nature and scope of the EV Battery Life Cycle environment.

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