China is not only the world's largest electric vehicle market; it has also become a major global center for the production of electric vehicles and the batteries that power them. The country accounted for more than 70% of global EV production and more than half of global EV sales in 2024, according to a report by the International Energy Agency, and companies such as CATL and BYD together control nearly half of global EV battery production. These companies offer solutions to customers looking to get rid of their old batteries. Through their dealers and 4S stores, many car makers now offer take-back schemes or opportunities to trade in old batteries for a discount when owners scrap a car or buy a new one.
BYD operates its own recycling facilities that process thousands of end-of-life packaging per year, and has launched special programs with recycling specialists to recover materials from its batteries. Geely has created a “circular production” system that combines the dismantling of decommissioned vehicles, cascading batteries and a high degree of recovery of metals and other materials.
CATL, China's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, through its subsidiary Brunp, has built one of the industry's most advanced recycling systems with more than 240 collection points, an annual recycling capacity of approximately 270,000 tons of used batteries, and metal recovery rates of more than 99% for nickel, cobalt and manganese.
“No one is better equipped to handle these batteries than the companies that make them,” says Alex Li, a battery engineer in Shanghai. This is because they already understand the chemistry, supply chain and uses of recovered materials. Car and battery makers “will eventually have to create a closed loop,” he says.
But not every consumer can get this kind of support from their EV manufacturer, as many of those manufacturers have gone out of business. Over the past five years, more than 400 small EV brands and startups have gone bankrupt as the price war made it difficult to stay afloat, leaving only 100 active brands today.
Analysts expect even more used batteries to hit the market in coming years as the first big wave of electric vehicles purchased under generous subsidies reach retirement age. Li says: “China will have to move much faster towards a comprehensive EV battery recycling system that can track, reuse and recycle them on a large scale, rather than leaving so many people to disappear into the gray market.”
