The Zenobē Innovation Centre in Portsmouth, England focuses on advancing fleet electrification. It features a Powerskid, which helps the company test V2G charging and grid enhancement to support the power demands of EV charging.
He added that, “OEMs are starting to see many manu-
facturers come up with circularity programs in-house as a new business line. This is a way they maintain control of that battery. They know what’s gone into that battery to be- gin with, they’re able to make use of that battery in kicking off a new line for themselves while making sure to extract the most environmental benefits from that battery.”
Supply Chain Laws and Incentives The majority of cobalt used in batteries is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while graphite is largely mined in China, lithium in Australia and nickel in Indonesia. The majority of battery component manufac- turing is done in China. Sustainability and human rights advocates have raised
serious concerns about practices in these countries and pushed for domestic manufacturing and mining. That re- sponse raises its own challenges since some of the largest lithium deposits are on indigenous land in the U.S. WRI is demanding that electric school bus batteries
only be made with metals from mines certified by inter- national audits. States are increasingly looking to legal mandates to
address battery supply chain and waste. New Jersey’s law passed in January bans the landfilling of batteries starting in 2027. It also outlines responsibility for the battery and demanding labeling of any battery sold in the state by 2027. Washington state, where electric vehicles have grown exponentially, passed a law in 2023 for responsible bat-
68 School Transportation News • NOVEMBER 2024
tery management, starting with mandated studies. On the federal level, the bipartisan Critical Material
TRACE Act introduced in Congress would develop a vol- untary “battery ID” system that allows customers to see the sourcing of components and the steps the battery has traveled to market. The European Union will require a similar battery passport starting in 2027. Last year, EPA announced new rulemaking regarding waste manage- ment of lithium-ion batteries. The Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infra-
structure Law include incentives for battery reuse and recycling. Among other things, a reused battery qualifies as “domestic content” qualifying for direct-pay tax cred- its under the IRA. “There’s significant effort at the federal level in terms
of funding new battery facilities, funding battery re- cycling facilities, manufacturing facilities, processing plants, cathode manufacturing, these are all clear signals that domestic manufacturing is truly here and here to stay,” said Kothari. “It takes some time to stand up these facilities at scale, but once that is the case, it becomes important for school bus manufacturers to start to con- sider how to source domestically.” Kothari noted that it’s in the best interest of battery
manufacturers to design batteries for quick and efficient disassembly. “That piece is touted as the holy grail of battery circularity economics,” he added. WRI cites data from the International Council on Clean Transportation noting battery recycling capacity
PHOTO COURTESY OF ZENOBĒ
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