Had few questions based on the management commentary from FY23Q4 Concall. I reached out to the management for the same and sharing the conversation here.
Question 1: As per the management even in EV we require a lead acid battery to do starting, lighting, ignitions and auxiliary functions. However a lot of EV’s already exist without a lead acid battery and many have plans to completely get rid of lead acid battery going forward
Source:
- Tesla’s new Model S and Model X get rid of lead-acid 12v battery, move to Li-ion | Electrek
- https://www.power.com/community/green-room/blog/why-do-evs-still-need-12-v-lead-acid-batteries
Reply from management: “Lead acid batteries will be a part of the EV’s majorly as Lithium is a scarce metal.”
This makes sense as lithium is in fact a rare metal but we will have to track going forward if majority of EV’s continue to use lead acid batteries for SLI functions or they switch completely to to lithium ion. And if they do switch completely then success with lithium ion recycling plays a key role here.
Question 2: Management said that raw material for lithium ion will not be available for next six to seven years in India. So does that mean that it is going to take Gravita at least six to seven years before it can start with lithium ion recycling? Also management says that for lithium ion recycling there is no proven technology whereas a quick Google search gives multiple companies which have been doing lithium ion recycling since a long time. Why Gravita is lagging behind in lithium ion recycling technology when it already exists?
Source:
- Lithium-ion Battery Recycling Technology | Fortum
- Lithium-ion battery recycling Escaid™ diluents for solvent extraction | ExxonMobil Product Solutions
Reply from management: “Li-ion battery recycling will take some time, as the life of Lithium ion batteries are 7-8 yrs. Also, in case of Lithium ion batteries also we would be buying the scrap from same vendors (Like Airtel, Vodafone, Amara Raja, Luminous etc) and at the same time we will be supplying to same customers (like Amara Raja, Luminous etc), so for us our eco system remains same. “
As per the concall, we have set up a pilot plant for lithium ion recycling. Does it mean that we already have the technology to recycle lithium ion batteries and just working out the fine details and processes on the plant and to set up the whole value chain will take 6 to 8 years? Or it will take 6-8 years to have enough lithium ion scrap to be recycled? Have asked these further questions to the management and waiting for the reply.
Disclaimer: Invested & Biased.
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