Life Cycle Assessment of Lithium-ion Battery Pack: Implications of Second-life and Changes in Charging Electricity

The impact of battery electric vehicles (BEV) on global warming is influenced by their battery size and charging electricity source. Therefore, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies of BEV may consider changes in the energy sources for charging and the end-of-life management of used batteries. This study conducts an LCA of a BEV battery pack considering the influences of the charging electricity mix and repurposing the used battery. A cradle-to-grave system is considered to assess the environmental impacts of a Lithium-ion battery (LIB) weighing 290 kg and a pack energy density of 188.3 Wh/kg. The LIB cells were repurposed at their first end-of-life, considering a 50% cell conversion rate (CCR) for 5 years second-life. LCA results show a 6% reduction in GWP impact when the share of renewable sources in the charging electricity mix is considered. Considering recycling, an 11% reduction in GWP is found and less than 1% reduction for repurposing the used LIB cells. The sensitivity analysis found marginal benefits for a longer second-life and higher CCR values (>50%). The parameter with the most influence in the results is the source of electricity to charge the repurposed LIB. Thus, the potential benefits of second-life batteries strongly depend on the source of charging electricity followed by a longer second lifetime (>5 years).