The Government of India as well as various state governments have taken several steps including introduction of financial benefits, schemes, subsidies, infrastructure development, and regulatory measures aimed at promoting the EV ecosystem in the country. It is truly remarkable to note that the EV market in India is slated to continue at 90% CAGR at least until 2030.
There is hardly a prominent car or two-wheeler maker that has not already introduced EV models or has one in the pipeline. India is one of the first few countries to have come up with a proposed Battery Swapping Policy, and apart from the central government, more than 20 Indian states have already announced their EV policies/policy drafts. However, amidst all this din and glitter of EV adoption, some concerns are being raised as to whether EVs are harbingers of a ‘green future’ or likely to complicate the scenario of e-waste in India?
EV growth = growth in Li-ion consumption
The current goal of increasing EV share in the overall vehicle sales market from less than 2% at present to 30% by 2030, as declared by the government, is likely to lead to a saving of over 1 lakh crore in terms of fuel import bills that India currently pays every year. That is a fantastic achievement, but to make it happen, there is a need to expedite EV adoption powered by a massive surge in demand for Li-ion or lithium-ion batteries. The size, chemistry and design of these batteries will vary as per use cases. Even the local climate will have a bearing on the type of Li-ion batteries to be used.
Until now, like many other countries, India is also heavily dependent upon China to import these batteries as we do not have adequate Lithium or Cobalt reserves domestically to sustain manufacturing here. Therefore, if we look at the scenario from a practical perspective, we are still going to import energy. Just that the dependency will move away from the Gulf countries led by Saudi Arabia and towards China. While that is one concern to be noted, the other comes in the form of discarded EV batteries. A holistic ESG adherence and approach to clean the environment necessitates going beyond air pollution and tackling e-waste as well.
EV e-waste challenge and disposal opportunities
The Li-ion batteries have a limited shelf-life, and after a certain number of charge cycles, they have very little use potential left. Since these batteries contain several hazardous materials, disposing them or even recycling is complicated and risk-prone. If we look at an electric 4-wheeler, a battery lasts anywhere between 5-7 years depending upon the frequency of charging. Considering that within the next few years, we will have to deal with millions of such EV-batteries being discarded every year, it is important to focus on the e-waste challenge. Alongside the development of vehicle OEMs, there is a need to build an extensive infrastructure of waste disposal across India.
If we leave the batteries to landfills, it would not only harm the environment, but also be a major threat to lives. The batteries might explode when exposed to unfavourable temperatures or pressure in the landfills. Therefore, a well-defined framework integrating infrastructure and regulatory protocols must be in place to dispose these batteries.
The other option is to create a recycling ecosystem for these batteries.
Recycling EV batteries
Recycling of EV batteries can have far reaching benefits for the country. With each new recycling plant, it would become possible to reduce the environmental impact of batteries, and safely extract the costly rare earth materials like lithium, cobalt, and graphite etc. Over time, we can use these raw materials for domestic manufacturing of batteries and steadily reduce dependence on import.
India has ample reserves of materials like aluminium, copper, and nickel, and there is no dearth of knowhow when it comes to manufacturing battery cells. By extracting the rare materials through recycling, we can also start producing cathode and anodes domestically. It will create thousands of new jobs, boost the economy, and make India compete with China as a future battery hub.
Conclusion
Domestic recycling of Li-ion batteries used in the EVs is the best way forward for the country. It will not only help us confidently move forward towards EV adoption across all categories of vehicles, but also reduce the e-waste pileup. Further, with recycling, we can extract the rate materials which will make India Aatmanirbhar in the arena of EV batteries in the long run. With the right intent and knowhow in place what we need now is to scale investments and implement the right legislations to develop a robust EV battery recycling and manufacturing industry in India!
(The author, Tushar Choudhary, is the Founder & CEO of Motovolt Mobility)
