Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) announced that it has managed to recycle 92% of the batteries used in its range of vehicles. The information comes as a relief for Elon Musk amid delays of both the Tesla Semi and the long-awaited Cybertruck.
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New Technology Of Extracting Electric Car Batteries
Tesla has managed such a feat through new recycling technology. According to the manufacturer, this new system is already being tested in the Berlin and Texas plants.
The company founded by Elon Musk indicates that the first modules are capable of extracting a value of 921 kWh of metal from 1000 kWh batteries to produce new units.
In addition, according to an environmental report published in Electrek, this recycling system has been able to extract 1,300 tons of nickel, 400 tons of copper, and 80 tons of cobalt since it began operating in 2020.
Tesla said in a statement: “With the implementation of in-house cell manufacturing at Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg and Gigafactory Texas, we expect substantial increases in manufacturing scrap globally.”
“Onsite recycling brings us one step closer to closing the loop on materials generation, allowing for raw material transfer straight to our nickel and cobalt suppliers.”
The tech giant expects to accrue major savings in the long run, as the costs associated with large-scale battery material recycling will be far less than buying further raw materials for cell manufacturing.
An Industry Milestone
Tesla’s recycling success is a milestone in the history of the automotive industry, due to the polluting footprint of the battery cells.
Although the use of electric cars is a minimal source of pollution, recycling batteries was beginning to become a serious issue. The extraction of some of the materials is expensive and with this new process, production costs could be lowered.
Tesla’s main objective is –in addition to reducing the environmental impact– to decrease battery production costs. Recycling them to take advantage of the materials can significantly reduce the price of its electric cars.
According to Electrek, “The issue of recycling batteries is so important that Tesla co-founder and long-time CTO JB Straubel quit the company in 2019 to start his own company, Redwood Materials, and develop recycling processes.”
Tesla is part of the Entrepreneur Index, which tracks 60 of the largest publicly traded companies managed by their founders or their founders’ families.
