Automakers and suppliers, keen to fortify an EV supply chain and avoid raw materials shortages, are turning to a domain once overlooked: battery recycling.
Suddenly awash in interest from EV makers and venture firms, the sector has seen a spate of partnerships and funding deals in the past 18 months.
The momentum appears to be building, as investor appetite in battery recycling intensifies, said Alex Smout, principal at InMotion Ventures, Jaguar and Land Rover’s venture capital arm whose portfolio includes Ascend Elements, formerly known as Battery Resourcers.
“The supply side of batteries available for recycling is growing fast, and no one had really anticipated it,” Smout told TechCrunch. “So the ability for these companies to hit scale sooner than had been previously anticipated is really showing itself.”
THE OPPORTUNITY
About 15 million tons of lithium-ion batteries are expected to retire by 2030, the deadline most automakers have set for phasing out gas-engine vehicles, according to AquaMetals. The Nevada-based metals recycler expects the market for battery recycling to top $18.7 billion by the end of the decade.
The blank slate means that nimble startups and long-established players have an opportunity to set the industry’s direction.
Last month, Posh, a startup that automates EV battery recycling, raised $3.8 million in a seed round led by Y Combinator and Metaplanet. Its founders pivoted early this year from building high-end robots for the restaurant industry after they saw recalled Chevrolet Bolt batteries piling up in a warehouse. They instead looked to apply that technology to automate the battery recycling.
Source: Tech Crunch
