Eduardo Dívar, director of Kia Spain: "All manufacturers are looking for a second life for electric car batteries, whether in industrial or domestic use."

Electric mobility is advancing at a dizzying pace, but with it come significant challenges. One of the most significant, and one that raises the most questions among consumers, is what to do with electric car batteries when their useful life on the road reaches the end. In a video posted on his LinkedIn profile, Eduardo Dívar , general manager of Kia Spain and member of ANFAC, makes it clear that "all manufacturers are looking for a second life for electric car batteries, whether in the industrial or domestic sector."

This reuse isn't just a futuristic ideal. Many brands are already experimenting with renewable energy storage systems that leverage batteries from disused electric vehicles. For example, a retired car battery can be integrated into homes with solar panels to store surplus energy or serve as a backup in industrial facilities.

According to the Electric Mobility Platform, solutions are being developed that allow these batteries to be adapted for stationary use, thereby reducing their environmental footprint and extending their useful life by another 5 to 10 years. This is a decisive step toward improving the system's sustainability and responding to growing public concern about recycling and the environmental impact of this technology.

In parallel with the debate about the second life of batteries, the industry is working tirelessly on its technological evolution. So-called solid-state batteries promise to completely revolutionize the market. Unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries, these new units use a ceramic electrolyte instead of a liquid one, which reduces the risk of short circuits and eliminates one of the biggest fears for users: fires.

And the data leaves no room for doubt. Studies in the US and Europe confirm that an electric car is up to 60 times less likely to catch fire than a combustion engine, as Dívar himself pointed out. Furthermore, solid-state batteries offer greater range and faster charging.

In terms of sustainability, they also offer advances. These batteries require less cobalt and graphite, two materials whose extraction has generated controversy due to their social and environmental impacts. Less invasive methods for obtaining lithium are even being tested, such as geothermal brine extraction, which could reduce the production's climate footprint by 39%.

The industrial landscape is rapidly changing. Nissan was one of the first to invest heavily in solid-state technology, while Mercedes-Benz is working with ProLogium to incorporate this technology before 2030. Nio, for its part, has unveiled semi-solid-state batteries with a range of up to 1,000 km, a figure that just a few years ago sounded like science fiction. Kia and Hyundai, however, prefer to proceed cautiously. The strategy is to observe, test, and, when the time comes, take the plunge with the guarantee of offering a truly mature product.