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Solving the EV battery recycling puzzle : Short Wave Electric vehicle batteries will all, eventually, reach the end of their lives. When that happens, they should be recycled. But what breakthroughs could make that happen cleanly, efficiently — and close to home? Today, business correspondent Camila Domonoske takes us on a tour of one company trying to crack the EV battery recycling puzzle — to learn what this case study can tell us about the larger battery picture. Plus, why recycling is kind of like wresting with Lego bricks.

Read more of Camila's reporting on EV battery recycling.

Have a specific science story you want us to dig into? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might cover your idea on a future episode!

Short Wave

The complex, colorful puzzle of recycling EV batteries

The complex, colorful puzzle of recycling EV batteries

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Artistic rendering of a see-through electric vehicle with a battery in the center.
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xia yuan/Getty Images
Artistic rendering of a see-through electric vehicle with a battery in the center.
xia yuan/Getty Images

Electric vehicle batteries will all, eventually, reach the end of their lives. When that happens, they should be recycled. But what breakthroughs could make that happen cleanly, efficiently — and close to home? Today, business correspondent Camila Domonoske takes us on a tour of one company trying to crack the EV battery recycling puzzle — to learn what this case study can tell us about the larger battery picture. Plus, why recycling is kind of like wresting with Lego bricks.

Read more of Camila's reporting on EV battery recycling.

Tenke Fungurume Mine, one of the largest copper and cobalt mines in the world, is owned by Chinese company CMOC, in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Minerals like cobalt are important components of electric vehicle batteries, but mines that produce them can hurt the environment and people nearby.

Business

Their batteries hurt the environment, but EVs still beat gas cars. Here's why

Have a specific science story you want us to dig into? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might cover your idea on a future episode!

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This episode was produced by Jessica Yung and Rebecca Ramirez. They also edited the story. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Kwesi Lee.

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