Environmental Impacts of Technology: Electric Vehicle Lithium-Ion Battery Life Cycle Management

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Option Green: Environmental Impacts of Technology presents,

"Electric Vehicle Lithium-Ion Battery Life Cycle Management" with Ahmad Pesaran, Ph.D., Chief Engineer Emeritus; National Laboratory of the Rockies 

7:00pm Eastern Time

Electric vehicles (EVs) are central to decarbonizing transportation, but their increased adoption presents a critical challenge: ensuring the sustainable management of their batteries at end-of-life. With tight supply chains and high environmental impacts surrounding critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, maximizing battery utility through second-life reuse and closed-loop recycling is essential. Second-use applications—such as repurposing retired vehicle batteries for stationary energy storage—extend the life of these vital resources while regional recycling infrastructure develops. Concurrently, advanced recovery methods are shifting away from traditional energy-intensive smelting toward commercially scaling hydrometallurgy and emerging direct recycling techniques, which offer significantly lower overall carbon footprints and lower transportation costs when strategically localized.
In response to these supply and environmental imperatives, global regulatory and industry frameworks have accelerated dramatically over the last several years. Key legislative milestones, such as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act's domestic sourcing mandates and the European Union’s comprehensive Battery Regulation, now enforce strict recycled-content requirements, digital "battery passports," and producer responsibility. To adapt to this evolving landscape, automotive manufacturers are increasingly adopting "design-for-recycling" principles, modular architectures, and other business models to lower life-cycle management costs and secure raw material supply chains for the future.

Ahmad Pesaran, Ph.D., Chief Engineer Emeritus, National Laboratory of the Rockies

Dr. Pesaran is an internationally recognized leader in battery and energy storage research and energy efficiency with over 40 years at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), named recently as National Laboratories of Rockies (NLR). He pioneered battery thermal management, safety, and second-use applications. He has directed multimillion-dollar R&D initiatives and teams advancing EV batteries focusing on materials and applications, thermal modeling and characterization, computer-aided design, abuse and thermal runaway, end-of-life management, and supply chain development. He stablished key funds in partnerships with industry, academia, and government. Dr. Pesaran was elected SAE Fellow; recipient of multiple NREL/DOE/industry awards/honors and three R&D 100 Awards. He has been trusted advisor to DOE, DOD, NHTSA, and industry consortia, actively shaping the future of batteries and electrified mobility.  He has continued his active participation with NLR and the industry since his retirement in October 2025.

Co-sponsored by the East Brunswick Friends of the Library and the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission.

This program will be recorded.