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RACE Energy Partners with LOHUM to Tackle EV Battery Waste and Promote Sustainability

This collaboration aims to address the growing concern of EV battery waste and explore second-life use applications, aligning with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines for responsible battery management.

October 18, 2023. By News Bureau

RACE Energy has announced a strategic partnership with LOHUM. This collaboration aims to address the growing concern of EV battery waste and explore second-life use applications, aligning with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines for responsible battery management.

RACE Energy, which inaugurated its battery manufacturing facility with a 50 MWh production plant capable of deploying 30,000 batteries annually, takes a proactive approach to sustainability. Through unique charging algorithms and internal cooling systems, they extend the battery life by approximately 40 percent.

In addition, more than 90 percent of raw materials from RACE's used batteries will be recycled or refurbished, fulfilling their commitment to a circular economy for EV batteries in India.

LOHUM, in a significant development, utilised their NEETM multi-stage hydrometallurgical energy transition material recycling technology to produce pure metallic Lithium.

This achievement positions LOHUM as the first non-Chinese company to achieve such results through recycling, offering significant potential for closed-loop battery materials.

Gautham Maheswaran, Co-Founder of RACE Energy, highlighted their ongoing efforts to optimize battery usage. He explained, "This partnership with LOHUM enables us to further extend the life of swappable battery modules, which will be seamlessly transitioned into useful second-life applications. The raw materials extracted from the batteries will feed into Lithium-ion cell manufacturing, thus creating a circular economy for EV batteries in India."

Chetan Jain, Senior VP - Business at LOHUM, emphasised the alignment of their mission with RACE Energy's sustainability initiatives. "This partnership with RACE enables us to further expand the supply of clean energy transition materials needed for the manufacturing of new batteries via recycling while easing the demand for mined primary raw materials that need to be imported to power India's expeditiously growing EV ecosystem, via repurposing," he stated.

RACE Energy's battery-swapping technology addresses challenges such as high vehicle costs, long charging times, and range anxiety. With this partnership, RACE's batteries will find second-life applications in renewable energy storage, power backup, or smaller EVs.

Tags:

Extended Producer Responsibility

Battery Management

Internal cooling systems

battery materials

Economy