Second Life Batteries: Current Regulatory Framework, Evaluation Methods, and Economic Assessment

In this article, second-life batteries (SLBs) are presented and discussed in their full context. Market forecasts, applications, the current regulatory framework, state-of-the-art SLB technologies, the value chain, and a benchmark analysis of the main SLB players are illustrated and discussed, together with a practical economic assessment. The second life battery market is still nascent, therefore many normative blind spots still need clarifications. The lack of specific standards related to SLB is a significant limitation for the analysis of the economic viability of a Second Life Battery Energy Storage System (SLBESS). Moreover, there is no evident gold standard for an efficient industrial model concerning applied technologies and testing procedures necessary for second life application deployment. This work tackles these aspects at all levels and eviscerates them to present possible coherent solutions if present.