A greener Honda: car company to recycle hybrid batteries for rare earths

On Wednesday, Honda Moto Co. announced that as part of an increased effort to go green and be environmentally friendly, the car manufacturer will begin recycling rare earth materials this year from the batteries used in hybrid cars. As a whole, Japan is heavily dependent on imports to get its rare earth elements, especially from China. While the materials are invaluable for the manufacturing of high-tech consumer electronics, ongoing tensions with China pose a threat to Japan’s supply.


Honda claims that they will be the first in the auto industry to start rare earth recycling, with the hopes of a September or October launch. Takanobu Ito, Honda’s president, commented that the future of Japan’s energy policy has become uncertain in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and there is no better time than now to make a push towards the use of renewable energy sources. Ito also said that Honda is making efforts to decrease pollution and its contribution to global warming, and one day hopes to make cars that combine the company’s fuel-cell technology with solar power, creating a car that runs on energy from nature only.

The Honda president pointed to founder Soichiro Honda’s focus on the environment, and how he would tell workers that everyone in the auto industry is responsible for trying to reduce emissions. Prior to Honda’s entrance into the U.S. market, the company had set a goal for building a fuel-efficient gasoline engine, in order to pass the country’s strict regulations against pollution. Honda created its legendary CVCC engine in the 1970s, and was the world’s first auto maker to clear the standard. Shortly after, regulations against pollution were also adopted in Japan.

Source;
http://japandailypress.com/a-greener-honda-car-company-to-recycle-hybrid-batteries-for-rare-earths-204805

Honda to Reuse Rare Earth Metals Contained in Used Parts

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and the Japan Metals & Chemicals Co., Ltd. today jointly announced the establishment of the world's first process to extract rare earth metals from various used parts in Honda products. This is an actual mass-production process at a recycling plant, not an experimental process. Honda will pursue the recycling of precious resources by utilising the newly established process for the recycling of rare earth metals.

As part of this effort, before the end of this month, Honda and Japan Metals & Chemicals will begin extracting rare earth metals from used nickel-metal hydride batteries collected from Honda hybrid vehicles at Honda dealers inside and outside of Japan. The new operation will be the first in the world to extract rare earth metals as part of a mass-production process at a recycling plant.

Honda had been applying a heat treatment to used nickel-metal hydride batteries and recycling nickel-containing scrap as a raw material of stainless steel. However, the successful stabilisation of the extraction process at the plant of Japan Metals & Chemicals Co., Ltd. made possible the extraction of rare earth metals in a mass-production process with purity as high as that of newly mined and refined metals.

The newly established process enables the extraction of as much as above 80% of rare earth metals contained in used nickel-metal hydride batteries. Honda will strive to reuse extracted rare earth metals not only for nickel-metal hydride batteries, but also for a wide range of Honda products. Moreover, Honda will further expand the recycling of rare earth metals in the future as the newly established process enables the extraction of rare earth metals from a variety of used parts in addition to nickel-metal hydride batteries.

Giving consideration to the recycling of resources used for its products, Honda has long been committed to the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) approach. For instance, Honda was the first Japanese automaker to begin sales of recycled parts and to collect/recycle oil filters and replaced bumpers. Honda will continue strengthening its network which links to the reuse and recycling of resources.

Source;

http://www.hondanews.eu/en/news/index.pmode/modul,detail,0,2226-DEFAULT,21,text,1/index.pmode

Sanyo to crank up hybrid battery production capacity by 75%

Sanyo is one of the biggest suppliers of nickel metal hydride batteries for hybrid vehicles, along with Panasonic EV energy. Currently, Sanyo's primary customers are Honda and Ford, but the company also has deals with Volkswagen and Audi for future products from Germany. Ford's ability to sell hybrid vehicles has, in part, been constrained by limited supplies of major components like transmissions and batteries. That situation may soon change, since Sanyo has decided to increase its production of NiMH cells by 75 percent.

Sanyo currently builds two million NiMH cells a month and had been planning to increase that to 2.5 million. Instead, Sanyo has decided to ramp that number up to 3.5 million cells per month. Some of those will undoubtedly go to Honda as it expands hybrid production with the new CR-Z coupe and the hybrid Fit. The deals with VW and Audi are believed to be for new lithium ion batteries. It's not known how many additional units Ford might get.

Source;
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/06/27/sanyo-to-crank-up-hybrid-battery-capacity-by-75/

Honda looks to expand hybrid market through venture with GS Yuasa

FUKUCHIYAMA, Apr 21, 2009 (Kyodo News International - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- YUSBF Quote Chart News PowerRating -- Honda Motor Co. and GS Yuasa Corp. on Tuesday marked the start of construction of their joint venture plant in Kyoto Prefecture to produce lithium ion batteries for hybrid cars, which many see as the key to enabling them to ride out the deep slump in the global auto industry.

Honda President Takeo Fukui indicated that the automaker plans to install the next-generation batteries that will be produced by the joint venture firm, Blue Energy Co., in its Civic or Fit hybrid model anticipated after 2010.

"We're going to take on the challenge of producing lithium ion batteries that will exceed nickel metal hydride batteries in performance and cost potential," Fukui said. "In order to strengthen our lineup, it's important to achieve further progress in hybrid technology." Fukui spoke to reporters following a groundbreaking ceremony in Fukuchiyama, where the plant will be built to make lithium ion batteries for gasoline-electric hybrids, a core component many experts believe will dominate the market for fuel-efficient cars.

Blue Energy plans to begin operations by autumn 2010 and is expected to have a battery production capacity that will be enough to make about 200,000 to 300,000 hybrids per year. The firm is capitalized at 15 billion yen and is owned 51 percent by GS Yuasa and 49 percent by Honda.

"The most attractive point for us is that we will be able to build next-generation eco-cars with the world's best automaker," GS Yuasa President Makoto Yoda said at a joint press conference with Honda's Fukui.

Despite being a front-runner in hybrid technology, Honda has been the last among Japan's top three automakers to find a specific partner to build its own lithium ion batteries.

The batteries are more compact, lightweight and powerful than nickel metal hydride batteries, which are mostly used in current hybrid models including Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius and Honda's Insight.

Toyota formed a separate battery venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., now Panasonic Corp., in 1996 while Nissan Motor Co. partnered with NEC Corp. in 2007.
Toyota plans to market a lithium ion battery-powered plug-in hybrid by the end of 2009, while Nissan has said it will launch an electric vehicle and a lithium ion-powered hybrid in 2010.
Meanwhile, Honda's current mega-hit Insight hybrid hatchback is powered by nickel metal hydride batteries developed by Sanyo Electric Co., a partnership many analysts believe will come under strain following its planned merger with Panasonic.

But Fukui expressed confidence that Honda's annual production level of all of its hybrid models will soon reach 400,000-500,000 units even as overall demand for vehicles sink under the weight of the global economic recession.

He added that Honda has received orders for more than 25,000 units of the Insight hybrid in just two months since its debut in early February, winning fans with its low retail price of 1.89 million yen.

Fukui said Honda's CR-Z sports car hybrid to be launched next year will not be powered with lithium ion batteries, but suggested the automaker may be ready to install the batteries in the hybrid version of the Fit compact or the second-generation Civic hybrid that will be launched at an undetermined date after 2010.

GS Yuasa, a Kyoto-based battery maker, also has a separate joint venture with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. to develop lithium ion batteries, which will be used to power Mitsubishi's zero-emission electric vehicle to be launched in the summer.

Source;
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2282149/

New Honda Insight Employs Sanyo Battery

The new Insight hybrid, which Honda Motor Co Ltd announced at Detroit Motor Show 2009, sports the IPU (Intelligent Power Unit) whose volume and weight are 19% and 28%, respectively, less than the one equipped in the Civic Hybrid

The IPU is composed of a Ni-hydrogen secondary battery unit, a motor driving inverter, etc.

Because the new battery unit features a 30% higher output per module than the existing one, the number of battery modules in the battery unit could be reduced from 11 to seven, contributing to the small size and the light weight of the new IPU.

In the battery module, 12 cylindrical cells are connected in series. The new Insight is mounted with 84 cells in total, and the battery unit outputs a voltage of 100.8V, 57.2V lower than the Civic Hybrid.

The cell, which is manufactured by Sanyo Electric Co Ltd, has a current capacity of 5.75Ah and a voltage of 1.2V. The cell employed for the Civic Hybrid is a product of Panasonic Corp and has a current capacity of 5.5Ah.

The IPU incorporates an inverter and a control unit for the motor, which are positioned on the battery unit. It is an air-cooled type that intakes air from the sides of the rear seats and emits it to the sides of the luggage compartment. The battery unit is packaged in a foamed material to prevent water exposure even if part of the vehicle including the control unit and the inverter is soaked in water.

Source, with 2X more pic's of the battery;
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20090115/164089/