UNSW researchers are working with industry to explore faster, safer ways to assess used electric vehicle batteries, in a bid to reduce waste.
A new rapid battery testing platform being developed at UNSW Sydney could make it faster, cheaper and safer to give retired electric vehicle (EV) batteries a second life, helping keep usable batteries out of landfill.
Researchers at UNSW have partnered with battery recycling and lifecycle management company DY New Energy on a $1.3 million project to develop further and test a new battery assessment platform, supported by the Australian government through the Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (TRaCE) Lab to Market Fund.
The project will test the new technology across more than 500 batteries in real-world conditions before piloting it in recycling facilities and second-life battery energy storage systems.
The global shift to EVs is accelerating, with around 250 million electric cars expected on the road by 2030. Each one runs on a battery that will eventually be retired, and many of those will still hold significant capacity that could be reused.
However, checking a battery's health can be slow, expensive and potentially risky, meaning reusable batteries are often recycled too early or discarded altogether.
It's a challenge a team of UNSW researchers, led by Dr Ziyang Lyu from the School of Mathematics and Statistics and Associate Professor Huadong Mo from the School of Systems and Computing, are working to overcome.
"Up to 95% of a battery's components can be recovered, some even to make new batteries. Yet only a small fraction of lithium-ion batteries in Australia are collected for recycling today," said A/Prof. Mo.
"As more EVs reach the end of their first life, Australia has a real opportunity to build a local second-life battery industry, with retired batteries supporting grid and community energy storage. Fast, affordable testing is one of the key pieces needed to make that happen, because every battery we can safely give a second life keeps delivering value instead of heading straight to landfill."
Faster battery assessment
Checking a battery's health currently relies on full charge-discharge testing, which takes around 10 hours and costs about $120 per EV battery pack. The process also puts potentially damaged batteries through hours of high-stress cycling, which can lead to overheating and fire.
The prototype platform instead sends short electrical pulses through each battery cell and measures how it responds. Statistical models then estimate the battery's health in under three minutes per cell, with lab testing showing more than 90% accuracy. The team aims to bring costs below $25 per pack and reduce the safety risks.
The project builds on A/Prof. Mo's earlier research through the Australian Economic Accelerator (AEA) Ignite program, which cut testing time to five minutes.
As part of the project, researchers will develop and test an AI-powered decision engine that recommends whether retired batteries should be reused or recycled. An intelligent Battery Management System (iBMS) module will integrate those insights directly into battery systems for real-time monitoring and decision support.
The platform will be designed to work with the management systems already used by recyclers and energy storage operators, and to assess the three main lithium-ion chemistries used in EVs and energy storage: lithium iron phosphate (LFP), nickel cobalt aluminium (NCA) and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC).
"Recyclers rarely receive neatly sorted batches," said Dr Lyu. "One day it might be LFP cells, the next a mix of nickel-based chemistries from different manufacturers. We've designed our models to handle that variety, so the platform works with the batteries operators actually receive, not just ideal lab samples."
Dr Lyu said the technology may also play a role in managing the growing number of batteries used in stationary energy storage systems.
"This technology could also support the future reuse and recycling of Australia's rapidly expanding fleet of stationary energy storage systems, contributing to a more sustainable and circular battery economy."
Moving beyond the laboratory
Researchers say the next step is demonstrating that the technology performs reliably in commercial settings.
UNSW is leading the algorithm development, statistical modelling, iBMS and system integration, while DY New Energy is providing real battery datasets, deployment environments and access to its industrial workflows.
"Support from the TRaCE Lab to Market Fund lets us take this beyond the lab and into real deployment," said Dr Lyu. "Partnering with DY New Energy gives us the data, environments and industry insight we need to build something that works commercially.
"Validating [our technology] across more than 500 batteries in real operating conditions is the critical next step. Lab results are promising, but industry needs to see the technology perform on the factory floor and in working energy storage systems before adopting it."
DY New Energy Director Yue Peng said quickly and accurately assessing retired EV batteries was an ongoing challenge for the industry.
"UNSW brings deep expertise in statistical modelling and AI that would be difficult for us to develop on our own. By pairing that research with our real battery data and operations, we can test and refine the technology in the conditions it will actually be used in EV retired battery recycling.
"Once proven, this technology could set a new standard for how retired batteries are assessed fast and accurately, here in Australia and around the world, and bring us a step closer to closing the loop on EV batteries."
