Life Cycle Analysis Summary for Automotive Lithium-Ion Battery Production and Recycling

Some have raised concerns regarding the contribution of lithium-ion battery pack production to the total electric vehicle energy and emissions profile versus internal combustion vehicles, and about potential battery end-of-life issues. This detailed life cycle analysis (LCA) examines these issues and identifies potential hot-spots within the battery pack life cycle for five cathode materials and a proposed lithium metal anode. The battery assembly stage, identified by some as an energy concern, is determined to be problematic only for “pioneer” plants (i.e. low-throughput facilities), but not for at-capacity plants, and battery electric vehicles with batteries from either facility type outperform conventional vehicles in terms of lowering GHG emissions. For at-capacity plants, the battery materials dominate energy impacts, with cathode materials representing 10–50% of that energy, depending on cathode type. Recycling can further mitigate battery life-cycle impacts, while also being economically attractive for all cathode materials, even those with low elemental values.