The outcome of the US election has set in motion - or at least will no longer hinder - a kind of tidal shift in the clean energy sector. The German E-Stream sees entirely new sales markets in its function as a 'distributor of energy efficiency'. We spoke again with Managing Director Thomas Krämer as well as Supervisory Board member Stefan Hötte. Mr. Krämer, after we spoke in the fourth quarter of last year, here's an advanced question to get you started: What do Tesla and E-Stream have in common? Krämer: Tesla and E-Stream both work with lithium-ion cylindrical cells. Although they are more complex to install, they offer significantly better performance values than conventional prismatic cells. Tesla and E-Stram both use this advantage. How can you imagine the differences? - The raw materials are the same. Krämer: There are different cell chemistries that are used here. Due to their construction, the energy density of cylindrical cells is much higher. The disadvantage is that this also means more heat generation - this has to be absorbed or avoided with appropriate technology. As we all know, it's no disgrace to copy from the technological leader in the industry: How does Tesla solve this? Krämer: Tesla has developed its battery packages in-house, and they already include the necessary cooling. However, this is quite weighty. E-Stream, on the other hand, goes one step further or, if you like, one step back in this chain: Through our arrangement of the battery cells, we try to avoid the waste heat as much as possible as soon as it is generated. What then remains is dissipated as efficiently as possible. But our packaging systems can do much more. Unlike Tesla, our cells and the circuit boards are not sealed together, but plugged in. This enables us to locate individual cylindrical cells in the system that are no longer as efficient and replace them. This increases the service life of the entire systems. Are innovations really possible in this area? Krämer: I would say yes they are, if the goal is to a achieve maximum packing density. We have achieved that with E-Stream; so it is state of the art, so to speak - more packing density is not possible. What about the availability of the raw materials that will undoubtedly be needed more than ever in the future for the ongoing transition to e-mobility? Krämer: Competition for these raw materials on the international markets is already apparent - that can be said. For this reason, we secured a cooperation with an Asian producer at an early stage, who produces our cells. Accordingly, we are currently in a position to supply up to 300,000 cells per day. In this respect, it seems important to me to remember right away not only to obtain these raw materials, but also to be aware of their recyclability. With the increasing use of lithium-ion batteries, this issue is now becoming acute. That is why this is also one of our research and development priorities. Here, too, E-Stream's packaging system is currently the global benchmark, because the aforementioned interconnection of our cells makes our systems secondarily recyclable. You have to imagine it like this: Because of the power peaks, I need a battery system in a vehicle that delivers above 80% power. After a certain number of charging cycles, the cells, regardless of their design, are no longer capable of delivering 100% power. In continuous operation without peaks, a system can be used efficiently at 80%. This means that cells which can no longer be used in the automotive sector can easily be installed in a residential or industrial storage system. This is feasible due to our unique plug-in technology and therefore enables 100% recycling of our systems.

Lithium-ion batteries recycling Accumulators and batteries generally have a limited service life, regardless of where they are used. Lithium-ion batteries in particular lose some of their useful life relatively quickly, depending on the intensity of use. At some point, they will have reached their zenith and are no longer suitable for further use. However, this does not make them useless. Explicitly the batteries in motor vehicles can still perform some useful functions after their replacement thanks to recycling. More about this in the following article. Enormous relevance in the recycling of lithium-ion batteries. The debate around electric cars caused heated discussions worldwide. Above all, the focus was on the negative environmental balance of electric vehicles. Since their batteries do not last forever, they also have to be disposed of again. However, the ingredients of the batteries can be easily reused. Operation in so-called "second life" is also possible. This means that the remaining energy of the battery in the car is only used during stationary operation. An important step when it comes to sustainability. Above all, the important ingredients such as cobalt, nickel and copper can be reused. The mining of these substances is extremely harmful to the environment and usually takes place under inhumane conditions. By reusing these substances, mining can be reduced, which further protects our planet. Problems with reusing A major problem that often occurs when recycling lithium-ion batteries is the difficult conditions when opening the batteries. The battery cell consists of many individual modules, which are located in a housing. However, the modules of the lithium-ion batteries cannot be replaced or removed individually. In most cases, they are sealed or glued together, which makes removal difficult. This can result in damage to the battery or to important parts. Now, the individual modules can no longer be used. The only usable parts of the battery remain the valuable raw materials. This is bad insofar as the remaining energy of the cells could still be reused in other areas of activity without any problems. The so-called "second-life" operation is thus blocked. In addition, many companies are very critical about recycling. Some companies recycle the batteries by burning or shredding them. However, there is a much simpler way to reuse the batteries better and for more sustainability. This would simply involve being able to replace the individual modules of the battery. New construction method allows better recycling The company E-Stream GmbH & Co KGaA has come up with a new and significantly better way of building these batteries. The cells are not sealed or glued together, as was previously the case, but are connected to each other in a kind of plug-in system. This means that the individual battery cells can be easily replaced and reused in "second life" operation. Even if only a single cell fails, it can be easily replaced. The so-called cylindrical cells are used, which are also much more efficient than the previous prismatic cells. The utilization rate of the cylindrical cells is 94 percent, while prismatic cells only achieve 60 percent. In combination with the environmentally friendly plug-in system, which allows individual cells to be replaced, this technology is considered a real revolution in the reuse of lithium-ion batteries.