EV Battery Usage-History Grading for Reuse or Recycling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The growing number of waste batteries from electric vehicles poses a significant environmental risk due to their hazardous contents, and existing recycling methods are cumbersome and inefficient, leading to low owner participation and a lack of effective recycling platforms.
Innovation Solution
A processor-implemented method using a battery management system (BMS) to collect usage history data, determine battery levels, and categorize batteries as reuse or recycle grades based on charging and discharging data, enabling quick and accurate evaluation for trading and recycling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a complicated and time-consuming battery evaluation process is performed during vehicle scrapping, then battery safety and accuracy are improved, but owner interest and recycling participation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The BMS continuously collects and stores usage history data (charging/discharging cycles, depth of discharge, temperature) during the battery's operational life. This preliminary data collection eliminates the need for time-consuming tests during scrapping, as the evaluation is essentially already completed through automated logging of operational parameters throughout the battery's service life
Solution Approach 2:
Physical disassembly processes (hoists, conveyor belts, manual inspection) are replaced with an automated digital evaluation system. The BMS electronically processes usage history data to determine battery grade, substituting mechanical disassembly and manual testing with automated data analysis that occurs without physical handling of the battery
2Ease of manufacture
If physical disassembly systems with hoists and conveyor belts are installed, then battery evaluation capability is improved, but device complexity and infrastructure requirements deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical disassembly infrastructure (hoists, conveyor belts, physical inspection equipment) with a software-based evaluation system. The BMS uses stored usage history data to assess battery condition, eliminating the need for physical manipulation equipment and reducing infrastructure requirements to basic computing and storage resources
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of physically handling and testing the actual battery, the system evaluates a digital copy of the battery's operational history stored in the BMS. This data replica contains all necessary information (cycle count, depth of discharge, temperature patterns) to assess battery health without requiring the physical battery to be disassembled or moved through complex machinery
3Reliability
If comprehensive safety equipment is secured for disassembly, then safety during evaluation is improved, but infrastructure cost and complexity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates physical disassembly operations entirely by using automated electronic evaluation of usage history data. Since no mechanical handling, cutting, or disassembly occurs, the need for safety equipment (firefighting systems, air purification, protective barriers) is removed, achieving safety through avoidance of hazardous operations rather than through protective infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
The battery's own BMS performs the evaluation function that would otherwise require external testing equipment and infrastructure. The system uses its own stored data to assess its condition, eliminating the need for separate evaluation facilities with associated safety requirements
4Ease of operation
If battery return obligation is abolished, then owner freedom is improved, but recycling platform availability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The automated BMS evaluation system enables battery owners to independently assess and determine the value of their used batteries without mandatory government take-back programs. Owners can use the system to evaluate their battery's usage history and grade, then freely choose to sell, trade, or recycle based on the objective data-driven assessment, creating a self-sustaining market mechanism that replaces compulsory return systems
Data Source
AI summary
A method for controlling a battery of an electric vehicle (EV) for trading includes collecting, by a battery management system (BMS), a usage history related to charging and discharging of the battery, determining a level of the battery based on the usage history, storing a grade of the battery as a reuse grade in a memory, in response to the level being determined to be a level 1, and changing the reuse grade stored in the memory to a recycle grade, in response to the level being determined to be a level 2.