Why we shouldn’t recycle old EV batteries… yet.

Electric vehicle batteries are lasting far longer than many people expected. So when they eventually leave their cars, should we immediately recycle them—or give them a second life storing renewable energy? This week we look at real-world projects in the USA, Canada and Australia, and discover why rapidly falling battery prices, different chemistries and some surprising economics are making that decision far more complicated than it first appears. Help support this channel's independence at http://www.patreon.com/justhaveathink Or with a donation via Paypal by clicking here https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=GWR73EHXGJMAE&source=url You can also help keep my brain ticking over during the long hours of research and editing via the nice folks at BuyMeACoffee.com https://www.buymeacoffee.com/justhaveathink Reference Links Reuters article https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/europe-drives-global-ev-sales-growth-august-offsetting-china-north-america-2026-09-10/ ICCT report https://theicct.org/pr-battery-electric-cars-europe-market-share-spikes-29-august AFRY report https://beyondfossilfuels.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/AFRY_BFF_Grid-expectations-The-distribution-backlog-stalling-Europes-energy-transition-report.pdf Bloomberg report https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-transport/lithium-ion-battery-pack-prices-fall-to-108-per-kilowatt-hour-despite-rising-metal-prices-bloombergnef Relectrify https://arena.gov.au/assets/2025/05/Relectrify-Second-life-battery-trial-Final-knowledge-sharing-report.pdf Dalhousie Paper https://resl.me.dal.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/nrc-dal-2nd-life-ancillary-svc-year-1-report-final-3.pdf IEA Global EV Outlook 2026 https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/857aa690-2a43-453f-9f12-147cc8f0a1dd/GlobalEVOutlook2026.pdf IEA Electric Car Markets in a Time of Uncertainty https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/a096b500-9d47-411d-a5db-b297a5d95927/ElectricCarMarketsinaTimeofUncertainty.pdf Environmental Science & Technology paper https://pubs.acs.org/esthag/article-pdf/59/30/15751/41007312/es5c01823.pdf EU Data Update https://alternative-fuels-observatory.ec.europa.eu/general-information/news/eafo-data-update-news-flash-september-2026 Guardian article on Australian EV sales https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/04/ev-sales-outpace-petrol-cars-for-first-time-as-australians-dodge-soaring-fuel-costs Cobb et al - Economic pathways for used EV batteries https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261926004617 Samsar https://samsar.us/ Check out other YouTube Climate Communicators Simon Clark: youtube.com/user/SimonOxfPhys ClimateTown: youtube.com/channel/UCuVLG9pThvBABcYCm7pkNkA Dr Gilbz youtube.com/@DrGilbz zentouro: youtube.com/user/zentouro Climate Adam: youtube.com/user/ClimateAdam Kurtis Baute: youtube.com/user/ScopeofScience Sarah Karvner: youtube.com/channel/UCRwMkTu8sCwOOD6_7QYrZnw Beckisphere: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT39HQq5eDKonaUV8ujiBCQ Our Changing Climate : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNXvxXpDJXp-mZu3pFMzYHQ