End-of-life EVs are already reaching recyclers, but volumes are still uneven and often below earlier forecasts. The practical question is how and when to invest in high-voltage training, safety controls, storage and downstream battery outlets without disrupting today’s core parts and scrap revenues. Some yards will take them on; others will refuse until liabilities and markets are clearer.
Electric vehicles are entering the end-of-life (ELV) stream, but not always at the pace or volume many expected. For recyclers, the question is no longer whether high-voltage vehicles will arrive, but how and when to adapt operations, training, safety, and downstream outlets without undermining existing revenue models. Brian Bachand, of Westover Auto Salvage, shares his opinion.
“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers” – Plato.
A challenge that’s already in the yard
Electric vehicles, whether you like them or not, embrace them or evade them, are finding their way into vehicle recyclers’ operations across the globe. End-of-life EVs are the current challenge and are static signals of change. But is this opportunity or oppression? Will this course favor auto recycling at large, or are we as an industry to weather it until the subsequent trial & tribulation arises? This brings forth the burden of what each recycler will decide when it comes to how and when.
How will mass end-of-life electric vehicles transform our industry, from its vitality to its volatility? How will it affect each recycler’s operation? And when?
When do we decide to prepare for what may be inevitable? When do we start altering our principles and proven methods for what we assume is currently unavoidable, and what does that look like? For those wishing to remain vital and to adapt moving forward, the time to ask “when” may soon be over, while the time to define the “how” is now upon us.
Was this shift organic—or legislated?
To better understand the crossroads this EV shift is at, it is best to reflect on the current consensus. So, did consumer demand for such an alternative force the exodus from ICE vehicles? I may have missed that soapbox special or social media notification. Did the manufacturers suddenly abandon course in favor of a prioritized green agenda? Or maybe this shift has to do with the layers of legislation. Geopolitics, natural resources, and capitalism have quite an immediate impact. However, one would like to explain the catalysts for this directive; the idea of the value and sustainability of electrification’s benefits warrants its merit.
Renewable Energy, cleaner transportation and a means to decrease reliance on fossil fuels. Think of the range, the dream of decreased carbonization, maybe even the “coup de grâce”, net-zero emissions people. An ideal morally espoused and potentially committed to cost savings? And to really canonize the parting from the fuel pumps, you can even charge these chariots increasingly everywhere and better yet, can even plug them in at home.
So with all these great values, why are so many still skeptical, scared of succession, or afraid of adversity?
Consumer demand, data gaps, and recycler caution
We all see the merit that EV’s may bring, but are they more than just a niche alternative? I, for one, did not ask for this transition. At the same time, I do not disagree with the future value of this impactful initiative. Yet when you go to the dealership, be it in Northampton, US, or Southampton, UK, are the majority walking through those doors demanding, “Show me your finest electric vehicle”?? And are these vehicles the first thing your salesperson wants to sell you on? Unless you are at a Tesla or like-minded dealership, I would think not. Something tells me that consumers and auto recyclers share similar opinions about these types of vehicles. The challenges posed by these vehicles, be it from limited or virgin data, risk aversion and safety threats, are enough to warrant caution and further research before proceeding forthwith.
Mandates, money, and readiness that still feel uncertain
The controversial or maybe even undesirable feedback from this transition to high-voltage vehicles may stem from the consensus that this directive should have been more organic. A slowly introduced alternative to the internal combustion-engine vehicles, and not something that was so quickly turned into an “everyone must buy into”. And at different points and places, it became a mandate and the selected state for transportation sectors. Finances were funded, and a path forward was paved regardless of whether data were shared or readily available. I, for one, did not see the numbers adding up, and it almost felt, at times, like it was despite consumer opinion. Yet here we sit, waiting for the onslaught of all these high-voltage vehicles that we have been told will be the future. And that they will be coming in droves, and that we in the recycling world would be well-advised to prepare, regardless of whether we have any say on how that may look or affect the greater good. Yet for auto recyclers, EV readiness has been completed, and it’s almost like a conquest of the past. We have been ready and waiting. Yet, as an industry, we still find ourselves baffled about how and when to approach this prospective prolonged proclamation.
What US recyclers are seeing right now
Recyclers in the United States are seeing a regular influx of, but not limited to, 2nd-, 3rd-, and even 4th-generation hybrids, along with 1st- and 2nd-generation EVs, into the end-of-life sector. But nowhere near the numbers expected or foretold, given the resources, finance, and promotion for these types of vehicles over the past 5 years. So, from a recycler’s perspective, are consumers not buying into this trend, as we were told would happen? Or has the scenario changed enough to give consumers and recyclers additional time to embrace or evade this transition?
The paradox: value, reluctance, and the cost of ownership
The results of this new development can mean a number of things. All of which should be taken seriously when considering the future trajectory of these types of vehicles. First observation: maybe not everyone wants an EV. I know, I know, blasphemy and balderdash. But looking past this presumed injustice, consumers may not be ready, or did not want an agenda forced upon them. Perhaps that truth rings true today.
In the United States, this was very much the feeling concerning high-voltage vehicles. Very few disagreed with the merit of these types of vehicles, yet when faced with the thought of being told what was to happen, that choice was taken away. Call it oppression, adversity or simply miscommunication, Americans do tend to act out or, at very least, speak their minds. And with that said, I would consider it short-sighted to believe that the public was to go along with this agenda, given the limited time and data to support such a transition.
Who will fix and service these vehicles, and how will that happen? What did the maintenance, repair and collision sides of the high-voltage vehicle initiative look like? And who owns the data for these vehicles, which rely more on monitoring and modules than on the actual mechanics?
If prices are already perceived to be through the roof for new vehicles and repair and parts costs are marching in that same trajectory, why would the consumer want to be pushed into a burden in exchange for a green agenda? This would lead me to believe that consumers in the United States will hang onto and make do with their older vehicles even longer than they have been doing. This could see the average age of vehicles on the road increase once again, from 12.6 years to around 13, and then to 14 years within the next 2 years. Or will the script flip, and will we see cost savings in buying newer EVs compared to ICE vehicles? Will this increase in high-voltage vehicles on the road influence the demand for used parts, or will the supply of end-of-life vehicles be the driver determining not only the used parts market, but also the logistics behind each auto recycler’s operations? Given this observation, how is the auto recycling community to then respond to such a paradox in the evolution of these events?
Readiness is uneven: from “junkyards” to best-practice operations
American auto recyclers are preparing for the emergence of a higher volume of electric vehicles, one way or another. The how of this transition lies within the logistics of each recycler.
ARA, with the support and allegiance of its state chapters, facilitate the implementation of best practices for high-voltage vehicles. It is up to each recycler to determine how they will adapt to the looming significant change. Bottom line is Junkyards will remain junkyards. Through dishevelment, disorganization, or a reluctance to change, these types of operations will miss, or worse, be disenfranchised, in an end-of-life EV transition. Other recyclers have the training, personnel, and best practices in place to take on these vehicles in a variety of quantities, including bulk. This includes the tools, safety equipment, and the means to transition how they recycle these high-voltage vehicles based on their needs.
Safety, investment and operational bottlenecks
We all know it is going to happen, but it is up to each of us to decide how this change will affect our operations and when we will make that change, including how we transition our business to market these parts, cores and commodities that come off these vehicles. Where will pain points come into play, roadblocks to once reliable revenue streams, or bottlenecks thwarting the outlets to effectively recycle these vehicles? And what about operational safety and the handling of these ELVs? Will recyclers build new facilities or design new branches specifically to handle EVs? How much capital and resources will be required to restructure our operations to accommodate this transition?
Some will remain stubborn and resist the change. Some recyclers are currently evading the shift and avoiding taking in high-voltage vehicles. Not just junkyards, but reputable auto recyclers as well. Their reasons are the fears of the industry. The fire liabilities, safety aversion, parts, and the current limited or lack of opportunity for recycling these EVs. All uncertainties that are not addressed within the industry and brought together with legislation may lead to some serious chokeholds throughout the entire transportation system.
How the auto recycling industry responds to this call to action is important for the life cycle of EVs, especially within certain demographics. Market demographics and location will continue to drive who accepts these types of vehicles and who avoids them. When faced with limited outlets, the lack of opportunity may steer the recycler away from taking on any further endeavors, especially if they pose a hazard to human health. If these high-voltage vehicles become a burden on the American recycler, it is only natural to conduct a scrap or high-risk assessment of them. And if this liability continues to increase, it would be no surprise to see an increased backlog of these types of vehicles improperly stored or left in an end-of-life or unwanted status. That would be a serious problem. And if that were to happen, what would legislators or society do if the ELV sector is not allowed fair markets, compliant recyclability, and means to reduce the risk aversion these vehicles pose?
No one wants to see vehicles abandoned from hill to dale, or left to less savory and non-compliant entities to handle and dispose of them illegally or haphazardly. Given the fire risks alone associated with these types of vehicles, even the shredders further down the waste stream are assembling and assessing how they will treat and possibly compensate for the handling of these vehicles. Will auto recyclers do the same and charge consumers for the cost of used parts and for proper EV recycling? I sure hope not. Will manufacturers here in the States adopt or be mandated to accept EPRs to help alleviate risks and absorb some of these costs? I do not know about that one. But I do know that the philosopher Plato was definitely onto something, suggesting a good decision is based on more than just the numbers. Knowledge of how this will play out will directly affect the numbers.
The time is now for each recycler to assess, process and progress from this transition. These vehicles are out there, maybe not in the numbers some have hoped for, but they will be coming into the ELV sector in bulk, sooner rather than later, given their current challenges and shortcomings.
Based on the facts and experience we have seen, what is being done (and not being done) within the legislature, and how consumer opinion changes hourly, the responsible recycler will continue to keep an ear to the ground and be ready.
Plans are in place, and resources are being lined up to support the transition. Readiness will differ depending on location, operations and facilities, as well as how each business adapts its model and logistics to manage, or make the most of, the shift. Ultimately, the numbers will show what sells and what ends up tying up stock.
However, it will be the knowledge and proactivity of each vehicle recycler that will shape what happens, through how we decide to handle it and when. Knowledge is power, and as Plato put it, “The measure of a man is what he does with power”.
Further Reading on Auto Recycling
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Will AI replace ME?
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Data Sharing for Circular End-of-life EV Batteries
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Toyota Tsusho strengthens EV-battery recycling from collection to recycle stages
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You Against You: Embracing Change and Choosing to Get Involved in Auto Recycling
