CIRC-eV Laboratory’s mission is developing a new Circular Factory concept to help the manufacturing industry recover and reuse components from hybrid and electric vehicles and promote new circular economy models for sustainable mobility. CIRC-eV is the first European laboratory dedicated to the Circular Factory concept.

It integrates disassembly, testing, reassembly and recycling of materials within the same structure, to design and enable sustainable circular economy solutions for the e-mobility sector. CIRC-eV will be equipped with Key Enabling Technologies (KET), focusing on the initial configuration and the most critical component for sustainable e-mobility – lithium-ion batteries.

The objective is to demonstrate the technical and financial feasibility of the circular process chain.

The most interesting strategy for automotive lithium-ion batteries is related to remanufacturing and reuse of disassembled cells. Cells with adequate residual properties will be reused in second-life applications using a cross-sector approach. Regenerated battery packs could be used for storage to support systems from renewable sources or inside living spaces (home, office). Cells that do not maintain sufficient secondary post-use properties will be destined for recycling to recover high value-added materials. Developing enabling technologies and decision-support systems will enable the best strategy for the management of post-use cells to be chosen based on residual performance. On a technical-scientific level, macro-challenges of the CIRC-eV laboratory are linked to:

• Design and development of a safe cell disassembly process and systems, with the appropriate level of flexibility to handle the wide variety of battery module types.
• Methods and procedures to assess the state of health (SoH - State of Health) of the cells, define how they degrade and estimate their residual useful life, allowing their application in second-life modules with certified performance.
• Development of methods to support decisions on cell selection and reassembly of knowledge-based and data-driven modules, aimed at creating second-life modules optimised depending on the most suitable application.
• Development of control systems (BMS - Battery Management System) which can meet the new specifications and requirements of the reconverted second-life modules.
• Design and development of highly selective mechanical pre-treatments to recover valuable materials and isolate the active fraction (Black Mass), to enable the recovery of key materials using hydrometallurgical treatments.

The CIRC-eV pilot factory will support multidisciplinary research and innovation activities to solve these challenges by developing methods and technological solutions with high potential for technology transfer to industry, able to demonstrate the feasibility and financial, environmental and social impact of a new circular business model for sustainable mobility.