Digital Technologies for EV Battery Circularity: An Explorative Study on 10R Circular Strategies

The rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) industry has significantly increased the demand for EV batteries, raising concerns about their environmental impact and end-of-life management. EV batteries face several challenges throughout their lifespan, including performance degradation, limited usability during their first life, and complex recycling processes. Addressing these issues requires a fundamental shift toward circular economy (CE) principles. This study examines how circular strategies—particularly those outlined in the 10R framework: Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, Recycle, and Recover—can be applied across the EV battery lifecycle to enhance value retention. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with key actors in the EV battery ecosystem—such as battery manufacturer, EV manufacturer, EV operator, battery recycler, and technology providers—this study investigates how 10R strategies are interpreted and implemented in practice and explores the role of advanced digital technologies in supporting these efforts. The results show that actors are currently adopting and planning to adopt diverse 10R strategies to promote a CE for EV batteries. All major digital technologies associated with Industry 4.0 are being applied, with AI, blockchain, IoT, big data analytics, cloud technology, simulation, and digital twins being among the most widely used. This study provides exploratory insights into the role of digital technologies in implementing circular strategies in the EV battery circularity sector, which helps understand how these technologies and collaboration can close the loop.