| ▲ | Japan develops a method to recover up to 90% of lithium from used EV batteries(tech.supercarblondie.com) |
| 112 points by donohoe 2 hours ago | 25 comments |
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| ▲ | cyphar 19 minutes ago | parent | next [-] |
| It really should not be surprising that we can get very high recovery percentages from batteries -- we do not mine elemental lithium, so the processes we use for extraction are already designed to extract lithium from fairly low-purity sources. In contrast, lithium batteries are an incredibly high-purity source of lithium. The main question is when it will become cost-effective to create recycling pipelines. Lead acid batteries had a similar trajectory and modern lead acid batteries are effectively 100% recycled. |
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| ▲ | waterproof an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| according to https://x.com/Mith_/status/2041911606213537971 > The industry standard for the recovery of lithium (remember there is a difference between recovery and extraction) is 90%, with some platforms now achieving 95%+ like those that use carbonation. |
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| ▲ | simondotau 17 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| This article is poor, because lithium is just one part of the value contained within EV batteries. Far more valuable is any nickel, cobalt and graphite. Equally valuable is any copper and aluminium. Unless you're effectively recycling a significant number of the major materials, it's not enough. Furthermore, it's not a remarkable achievement. By contrast to this headline, Redwood Materials claims "Redwood’s technology can recover, on average, more than 95% of materials like nickel, cobalt, copper, aluminum, lithium and graphite in a lithium-ion battery."[0] [0] https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/recycle-with-us/ |
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| ▲ | fzeroff an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| What a poorly written article |
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| ▲ | donjapan22 an hour ago | parent [-] | | While I’m very excited for the new recycling breakthrough, I felt the same. It was… off |
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| ▲ | zaik an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Can this be replaced with the original NHK World article? |
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| ▲ | bamboozled an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| “Japan”, as in the whole country developed this tech ? |
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| ▲ | yanhangyhy an hour ago | parent | prev [-] |
| why bother? japan hate EV |
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| ▲ | mc3301 44 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | I used to follow it closely and be in the industry, but it still seems like Japan is gonna be the last "mostly ICE cars" of the developed countries. Which is a shame, because it has a perfect combination of short-range needs (I mean, look at kei-cars), tons of wonderful places to hang out while charging (toll-way rest areas are so good), rare sub-freezing temperatures in most of the country, mandatory vehicle inspections (which could collect great safety data as well as preventative maintenance), general love of new cars and brand loyalty, lack of political or individual divide of "big gas trucks are manly", mobile-power-station earthquake preparedness (a nice bonus), generally cooperative nation-wide infrastructure... I guess we just have to hope the main automakers can hold on long enough for solid-state batteries and move faster than a snail's pace when it does. | | |
| ▲ | koito17 22 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | Ironically, on the Japanese net, you'll find people complain about the "low range" of EVs compared to hybrids, meanwhile most people in the car-centric areas of Japan don't travel (let alone drive) outside of their own prefecture. One complaint that I do think is valid is that many people don't live in a house with their own garage and 240V power line. i.e. dedicated home charging is impossible for many people. | |
| ▲ | cammikebrown 41 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | If you live in Tokyo or Osaka you really shouldn’t own a car | | | |
| ▲ | inatreecrown2 39 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Isn't the reason they are so slow to adapt them that they have not enough electricity? | | | |
| ▲ | tyre 38 minutes ago | parent | prev [-] | | In your opinion/experience, why is it that they aren't switching? |
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| ▲ | chvid 35 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | It is curious - you would think they would love it? But they don't - is it simply the case of the Chinese beating them - stubbornness and pride? Or is there something more going on? Toyota was seemingly decades ahead at one point with their hybrid cars; but now they have resigned to a defensive position compared to Tesla, Chinese automakers, even the European ones. | | |
| ▲ | yanhangyhy 26 minutes ago | parent [-] | | > you would think they would love it? no. i just found it funny. > Or is there something more going on? I remember BYD actually had to design models specifically tailored to the Japanese market (k-car)—their preferences are honestly so bizarre. I think a lot of this comes down to their national character. Once external momentum fades—like the industrial transfers from the US—they seem to lose the drive for technological innovation. They just cling to whatever they already have and refuse to adapt to global shifts.People in Japan are still using Yahoo and fax machines（not to mention their own bizarrely proprietary text editors,Hidemaru/SAKURA editor, to compare, in china, it's also vscode）. Toyota is still digging its heels in on gas-powered cars, even though the fact that Tesla used Japanese batteries in its early days proves Japan was once ahead of the curve.but they always seem to retreat right back into their comfort zone after a brief flash of brilliance, watching the rest of the world race ahead while they continue living in the past. | | |
| ▲ | hnav 9 minutes ago | parent [-] | | That's probably a good thing, the world needs appliance-like cars for markets where EV charging isn't there yet. Meanwhile Toyota is #1, moving millions of units, something like half of them are electrified in most markets. A 2026 Camry, for $30k, gives the buyer a low-TCO, value retaining, 50mpg, 230hp appliance of a car. That's a rarity. |
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| ▲ | jazzyjackson an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Japan wants domestic industry and specializes in things other than battery production | |
| ▲ | jeffbee 11 minutes ago | parent | prev [-] | | Every Tesla made in America contains 500 kilos of Japan's finest batteries. Honda may hate the EV but Panasonic does not. |
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