According to Reuters, on March 25th, Jean-Philippe Bahuaud, CEO of The Future Is Neutral (TFIN), Renault's circular economy subsidiary, revealed that Renault is in deep discussions with potential partners regarding the extraction and recycling of metals such as lithium from old electric vehicle batteries, seeking to reuse more strategic raw materials.
While recycling automotive components is becoming increasingly common, Renault aims to become the first European carmaker to recycle batteries on an industrial scale. Bahuaud believes that "no European company has yet formed a closed loop in the work of recycling old batteries and extracting nickel, cobalt, and lithium for the production of new batteries." Bahuaud stated in an interview this week that Renault's discussions with professional recycling companies have entered a "deep exploration" phase.
Most of the metals used in electric vehicle batteries are mined and processed outside of Europe, and European governments and industries are increasingly concerned about the region's heavy reliance on materials from China. Additionally, batteries account for 40% of the cost of a car, with these metals constituting 70% of the battery cost. Therefore, recycling these metals can also save a significant amount of costs.
Furthermore, French mining company Eramet plans to establish a battery recycling plant with waste management company Suez at the port of Dunkirk in northern France, set to start operations next year. However, the final investment decision for the proposed factory is still pending.
Over the past few years, Renault, along with its ally Nissan, has been a pioneer in the field of electric vehicles but has since been surpassed by Tesla and several Chinese electric vehicle brands. However, in the European electric vehicle market, Renault and Dacia brands remain leading brands.
In April this year, the company will cease production of new vehicles at its Flins plant in western Paris, focusing entirely on producing partially recycled automotive components and repairing cars. Bahuaud estimates that the Flins factory will repair 9,000 batteries this year.
Reportedly, Renault's repaired batteries and motor, charger, and other refurbished components are 30% cheaper compared to brand-new products. The goal of TFIN's business is to achieve €2.3 billion (approximately $2.49 billion) in sales and over 10% operating profit margin by 2030.
