Sustainable Design of Automotive Batteries

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">A consequence of the automotive industry's shift to electrification is that a significantly higher percentage of a vehicle's lifecycle CO<sub>2</sub> emissions occur during the production phase. As a result, vehicle manufacturers and suppliers must shift the focus of product development from the 'in-use phase only' to optimizing the complete product lifecycle.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The proper design of a battery has the highest impact to all other phases following in the life cycle. It influences the selection of materials, the manufacturing, in-use and end of life, respectively the recycling and recycling yield for a circular economy.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Using real-life examples, the paper will explain what the main parameters are necessary for designing a sustainable battery. What are the low hanging fruits to be considered? In addition, it will elaborate on the relation as well as the impacts to other KPIs like safety, costs and lifetime of the battery.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Finally, it will round up in an outlook on how batteries will evolve in the future where eco-design is the main driving factor.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">The paper is structured as follows:<ul class="list disc"><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">•</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations within current state-of-the-art traction batteries, where can we focus our efforts?</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">•</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Legislation boundary conditions for sustainable traction batteries in automotive</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">•</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Overview on hot spots and main impact areas on sustainability improvements in all phases of the lifecycle</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">•</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Lifecycle CO<sub>2</sub> (cradle-to-grave) impact minimization strategies during the product development phase</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">•</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Usage phase comparison NMC vs. LFP</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">•</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Best-practice toolkits and organizational approaches</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">•</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Design-to-CO<sub>2</sub> examples: Material variation, manufacturing process improvements</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">•</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Economic considerations such as serviceability vs. effort</div></li><li class="list-item"><span class="li-label">•</span><div class="htmlview paragraph">Design for recycling examples: Guidelines for easier disassembly, Higher recycled raw material yield.</div></li></ul></div></div>