Electric vehicle (EV) batteries, i.e., currently almost exclusively lithium-ion batteries, are removed from the vehicle once they no longer meet certain requirements. However, instead of being disposed of or recycled, the removed batteries can be used in another, less demanding application, giving them a “second life”. Research in the field of second-life batteries (SLBs) is still at an early stage and, to better understand the “second life” concept and the related challenges, potential second-life applications need to be identified first. Using a detailed study of the scientific literature and an interview with field experts, a list of potential second-life applications was drafted. Afterwards, a technical, economic, and legal evaluation was conducted to identify the most promising options. The findings of this research consisted of the identification of 65 different mobile, semi-stationary and stationary second-life applications; the applications selected as most promising are automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and industrial energy storage systems (ESSs) with renewable firming purposes. This research confirms the great potential of SLBs indicating that second-life applications are many and belong to a broad spectrum of different sectors. The applications identified as most promising are particularly attractive for the second-life use of batteries as they belong to fast-growing markets.

The safety of lithium-ion batteries has to be guaranteed over the complete lifetime considering geometry changes caused by reversible and irreversible swellings and degradation mechanisms. An understanding of the pressure distribution and gradients is necessary to optimize battery modules and avoid local degradation bearing the risk of safety-relevant battery changes. In this study, the pressure distribution of two fresh lithium-ion pouch cells was measured with an initial preload force of 300 or 4000 $\mathrm{N}$. Four identical cells were electrochemically aged with a 300 or 4000 $\mathrm{N}$ preload force. The irreversible thickness change was measured during aging. After aging, the reversible swelling behavior was investigated to draw conclusions on how the pressure distribution affected the aging behavior. A novel test setup was developed to measure the local cell thickness without contact and with high precision. The results suggested that the applied preload force affected the pressure distribution and pressure gradients on the cell surface. The pressure gradients were found to affect the locality of the irreversible swelling. Positions suffering from large pressure variations and gradients increased strongly in thickness and were affected in terms of their reversible swelling behavior. In particular, the edges of the investigated cells showed a strong thickness increase caused by pressure peaks.

Upon reaching certain limits, electric vehicle batteries are replaced and may find a second life in various applications. However, the state of such batteries in terms of aging and safety remains uncertain when they enter the second-life market. The aging mechanisms within these batteries involve a combination of processes, impacting their safety and performance. Presently, direct health indicators (HIs) like state of health (SOH) and internal resistance increase are utilized to assess battery aging, but they do not always provide accurate indications of the battery’s health state. This study focuses on analyzing various HIs obtained through a basic charging–discharging cycle and assessing their sensitivity to aging. Commercial 50 Ah pouch cells with different aging histories were tested, and the HIs were evaluated. Thirteen HIs out of 31 proved to be highly aging-sensitive, and thus good indicators. Namely, SOH upon charging and discharging, Coulombic efficiency, constant current discharge time, voltage relaxation profile trend, voltage–charge area upon discharging, hysteresis open circuit voltage HIs, and temperature difference between the tabs upon charging. The findings offer valuable insights for developing robust qualification algorithms and reliable battery health monitoring systems for second-life batteries, ensuring safe and efficient battery operation in diverse second-life applications.

The knowledge of the influence of high dynamic loads on the electrical and mechanical behavior of lithium-ion cells is of high importance to ensure a safe use of batteries over the lifetime in electric vehicles. For the first time, the behavior of six commercial Li-Ion pouch cells after a constrained short-time acceleration (300 g over 6 ms) with a resulting cell surface pressure of 9.37 MPa was investigated. At this load, two out of six cells suffered from an internal short circuit, showing several damaged separator layers across the thickness in the area of the cell tabs. For the cells that remained intact, a range of measurement techniques (e.g., inner resistance measurement, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), or thermal imaging) was used to reveal changes in the electrical property resulting from the load. The cells without short circuit show an increase of internal resistance (average of 0.89%) after the dynamic pre-load. The electric circuit model based on the EIS measurement indicates a decrease of the resistance R₁ up to 30.8%. Additionally, mechanical properties of the cells in an abuse test subsequent to the dynamic pre-load were significantly influenced. The pre-loaded cell could sustain an 18% higher intrusion depth before electrical failure occurred as compared to a fresh cell in an indentation test. The results of this study revealed that a high acceleration pulse under realistic boundary conditions can lead to critical changes in a battery cell’s properties and needs to be taken into account for future safety assessments.