On August 27, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Administrative Measures for the Echelon Utilization of New Energy Vehicle Power Batteries" (hereinafter referred to as the "Administrative Measures") to encourage echelons Utilize the cooperation between enterprises and enterprises such as the production of new energy vehicles, the production of power batteries, and the recycling and dismantling of scrapped motor vehicles to strengthen information sharing, use existing recycling channels, and efficiently recycle used power batteries for echelon utilization.

Industry insiders pointed out that the "Administrative Measures" is the first national-level special document for the echelon utilization of power storage batteries, which is conducive to the healthy development of the industry.

Clarify product safety responsibilities

Industry statistics In 2020, my country has retired a total of 250,000 tons of power batteries, and this number will increase to 780,000 tons by 2025. The retired power battery passes the necessary inspection, classification, disassembly, repair or reorganization into echelon products, which can be applied to scenarios such as energy storage power stations, communication base stations, low-speed electric vehicles, etc., which can achieve full use of resources and have greater advantages. Economic value and social value.

In recent years, the recycling and reuse of power batteries is quite popular, but fire and explosion incidents such as waste batteries in transportation, storage, and demonstration applications are not uncommon. If the large-scale retired power battery cannot be effectively regulated, it will bring huge safety hazards.

In order to promote the orderly development of the industry, the competent authorities have successively issued the "Technical Specifications for the Recycling of Used Batteries" and "The Comprehensive Industry Utilization Specifications for Waste Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles" in recent years. Conditions, "New Energy Vehicle Power Battery Recycling Service Network Construction and Operation Guidelines" and other relevant management regulations, all involve battery echelon utilization management. In October 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Administrative Measures for the Echelon Utilization of New Energy Vehicle Power Batteries (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)", and the echelon utilization management has become a key direction.

After nearly a year of deliberation, the "Administrative Measures" was officially promulgated, clarifying that cascade utilization enterprises engaged in cascade utilization of waste power batteries should be in accordance with relevant national regulations It is required to coordinate with new energy vehicles and power battery manufacturers to clarify issues related to intellectual property rights and product safety responsibilities.

"The echelon utilization of power batteries is still in its infancy and its development speed is relatively fast. The development of the industry plays the role of escort." said Zhao Xiaoyong, chairman of Beijing Saidemei Resources Reuse Research Institute.

Emphasis on industry chain coordination

Although the power battery Echelon utilization has received much attention, but most power batteries on the market have not entered the formal recycling channels, but have flowed into small workshops for dismantling. The industry as a whole is facing difficulties in recycling and profitability.

The "Administrative Measures" encourage enterprises to negotiate cooperation, use existing recycling channels, and efficiently recycle used power batteries for echelon utilization, which not only puts forward clear requirements for enterprises , It has also formulated detailed rules on products and recycling, which is expected to further strengthen the vertical integration of the industry chain.

It is understood that car companies are the main responsible party for the recycling of power batteries, but they have no advantage in battery disassembly and recycling. At present, vehicle companies usually authorize Recycling used batteries for battery companies or through third-party recycling companies, car companies enter this field through holding or equity participation, such as BMW, SAIC and CATL and Bangpu Recycling; BYD and GEM are cooperating to establish "material recycling—" Co-manufacturing cycle industry chain of “battery recycling-battery recycling”.

"This action can effectively avoid duplication of construction and save construction and logistics costs. At present, the scale of power battery recycling has not yet risen, and most companies have not yet achieved profitability. "Zhao Xiaoyong believes that with the implementation of the "Management Measures", laws and regulations become stricter, and the living space of small workshops will be squeezed until they withdraw from the market. Only companies with technology and strength can survive in the industry for a long time. By then, the recycling and reuse of power batteries will grow rapidly. It is estimated that by 2030, the scale of the industry will reach 100 billion yuan.

Landing effect needs to be tested

《Administrative Measures "Can the current industry "pain points" be solved?

Currently, the power battery information generally exists in the form of islands, which cannot be interconnected. Many echelon use product information is not clear, such as the year the battery was retired, and the battery before retirement. Information on capacity and battery manufacturers is incomplete, making it more difficult to disassemble and reuse batteries. Data sharing is considered to be the main means to solve the dilemma of power batteries.

"Encourage new energy vehicles and power battery manufacturers to negotiate with echelon utilization companies to share power battery factory specifications, charging rate information, and voltage, Monitoring data information such as temperature and other national regulations.” The “Administrative Measures” proposes that cascade utilization companies should conduct testing in accordance with relevant standards such as “Automotive Power Battery Recycling and Utilization Residual Energy Testing” (GB/T 34015) and other relevant standards, combining actual testing data to evaluate The residual value of used power batteries can improve the efficiency of cascade utilization and the performance, reliability and economy of cascade products.

"If there is no data support, the improvement of back-end detection efficiency and recycling may be empty talk, but car companies and power battery companies are not willing to open up data. Relevant departments should force relevant companies to release basic data on non-core technologies." Industry insiders said.

In addition, the "Administrative Measures" encourages power battery manufacturers to participate in the recycling and echelon utilization of waste power batteries. And the dismantling structure and connection method to facilitate the dismantling, dismantling and recycling after it is scrapped. "In the early days, power batteries were generally fixed by bolts. Due to quality and control issues, they were easy to loosen. We switched to welding and potting processes. This was troublesome for after-sales maintenance and echelon utilization. If there are no mandatory requirements, the battery design may be difficult to change." In addition, Zhao Xiaoyong confessed that the "Administrative Measures" lack disciplinary measures, and there are still certain difficulties in its implementation. (Source: China Energy News/Author: Lu Qixiu)