Stellantis Enters into Joint Venture with Orano for BEV Battery Cycle
After signing an agreement with Samsung SDI, Stellantis announced the construction of two new battery-electric vehicle (BEV) battery manufacturing plants in Kokomo, Indiana. The new auto market is all about electric power, and that requires a lot of energy to power automakers need to power their new BEV lineup. Securing these plants with Samsung SDI is beneficial, but then what do we do with all of these BEV batteries once they die out or are no longer usable? How does it affect the environment? Stellantis announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Orano to discuss a joint venture for recycling end-of-life electric vehicle batteries and scrap from gigafactories.
Who is Orano?
Orano is a well-recognized international operator when it comes to dealing with nuclear materials. A total of 17,000 employees, the company designs cutting-edge technologies to offer consumers high value-added products and services during the entire fuel cycle of nuclear fuel – (1) mining, (2) milling, () conversion, (4) enrichment, (5) fuel fabrication, and (6) electricity generation. That’s how many nuclear power plants work, but using nuclear fission instead of fusion…for now. Determined to understand the transformation and control of nuclear materials, Orano is a strong partner in this joint venture to make further use of its low-carbon technology to recover materials from lithium-ion batteries.
“We are delighted with this partnership with a major player such as Stellantis to work together in the recycling of used electric batteries…We are proud to bring our expertise and know-how with our innovative and disruptive process which allows a real closed loop. Orano continues its commitment to developing a low-carbon economy with the recycling of strategic materials for the energy transition and the circular economy.” – Orano Group Director of Innovation, R&D and Nuclear Medicine, Magnets and Batteries, Guillaume Dureau
Stellantis and Orano
Of course, we just don’t want to throw out an old battery. After all, even if a battery isn’t at full power, it still has some life in it. Recovering what materials still work and can be used to create more batteries is a smart way to recycle BEV batteries. Stellantis and Orano expects recovery rates of metals could reach more than 90-percent when recycling BEV batteries. Broken into two categories, they are known as “black mass” or “active mass”. Further refining the process, Orano is planning to build a hydrometallurgical plant in Dunkirk, France that will help make the materials collected usable in new BEV batteries for future models, thus closing the loop of operations.
This new process with hydrometallurgy technology will help Stellantis meet a rule of the European Commission – levels of recycling rate into batteries of electric vehicles. The European Commission is a strong player in the auto industry. Known for lowering the limit of carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions several years ago, that was the match that lit the race of plug-in hybrids and BEVs.
Moreover, the joint venture expects to manufacture new cathode materials (electric power) produced from materials found in lithium-ion batteries. To ensure the end-life of these are also treated correctly, Orano is a key player of the joint venture overseeing the entire process, from battery recycling to the production of cathode materials. With a goal of becoming a carbon net zero corporation by 2038, Stellantis pushes forth its Dare Forward 2030 plan to grow and expand with the industry.
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