Dynamic Analysis of Incentive Policy Impacts on Recycling of Retired Batteries for Electric Vehicles

Electric Vehicles(EVs), as a low-carbon means of transportation, have promptly become popular worldwide in the past decade. Since the lifespan of batteries is limited, massive of Electric Vehicle Batteries(EVBs) are being retired, resulting in a rapid increase in the demand for the recycling of retired EVBs in recent years. However, due to high recycling costs and immature recycling technologies, EV manufacturers are facing significant challenges in recycling retired EVBs. China, as the country with the largest number of EV users in the world, is exploring effective incentive policies for the recycling of retired EVBs. In this context, we developed a system dynamics model to analyze the impact of incentive polices such as, recycling subsidies, technological progress, and carbon trading on the retired EVBs recycling. Results show that: 1) recycling subsidies can improve the recycling ratios quickly in the short term, and dynamic subsidies are more efficient than static subsidies; 2) the policy of technological advancement can reduce the recovery and cascade utilization cost, thus having a positive impact on battery recycling, but the policy effect has a time-delay; 3) the carbon trading policy is unable to promote efficient recycling due to the current low carbon prices; 4) dynamic subsidy and technological advancement policies complement each other, therefore, the combination of these two policies is the best way to promote the recycling of retired EVBs and reduce carbon emissions. It is hoped that this study will contribute to the ongoing debate on policies for the industrialization of retired EVBs recycling.