Is Malaysia’s EV battery recycling crisis overblown? Here’s how longevity and second-life use could change the game

Most modern EV batteries are designed to last far longer, with current chemistries like lithium iron phosphate (LFP) rated for up to 3,500 charge cycles.

Battery lifespan depends on several factors: chemistry, cooling, usage patterns, and software management. Newer EVs using LFP batteries can last up to 3,500 full charge cycles. Assuming a conservative 250km per charge, that’s nearly 875,000km of driving. Even nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries used in many performance EVs can see 1,000 to 2,000 cycles — or around eight to 10 years before capacity drops below 80 per cent.
 

The BMW iX battery. — SoyaCincau pic

More importantly, a degraded battery is not a dead battery. There is the potential for module-level repair, where only the faulty part of a battery pack is replaced. This can significantly extend the usable life of the battery without needing full recycling. If repairability becomes standard practice, the number of batteries requiring full recycling by 2050 could be much lower than projected.
 

In Malaysia, the average annual driving mileage is around 20,000km. So theoretically, a well-maintained EV battery can last over 15 years, especially with EVs now having better battery cooling systems and battery management software.

Case studies:

• First-gen Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe — some of the earliest EVs on Malaysian roads — are still operating today with battery replacements only in extreme degradation cases.

• Tesla Model 3 LFP batteries are expected to last well over 500,000km with minimal degradation.

• The Aegis Blade battery developed by Geely and used in the Proton e.Mas 7 is known for its robustness, tested under extreme heat and puncture scenarios, and supports over 3,500 charge cycles.
  
  The first-gen Nissan Leaf (right) launched in 2013, is still running in Malaysia.
  
  
   

  The real-world data suggests longevity is improving, not getting worse.

  Claim 2: 870,000 batteries to be recycled by 2050

  We couldn’t verify where this number comes from. Is it based on all EVs currently on the road? Projected future sales? Does it include hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles? What about electric motorcycles?

  But here’s a bigger issue: this figure likely assumes a linear replacement model — i.e., that every battery sold will eventually be disposed of and recycled.

  That ignores a few important factors:

• Second-life applications: EV batteries with 70 to 80 per cent state of health are often repurposed for battery energy storage systems (BESS), especially for solar power or grid backup.

• Battery repairability: More EV makers now design batteries to be serviceable. You don’t need to replace the entire pack — just a few modules.

• Battery-as-a-service models: Some manufacturers like Nio offer swappable battery tech, which makes repair and lifecycle management much more efficient.
  
  Even when an EV battery is no longer optimal for driving, it often retains 70 to 80 per cent of its original capacity — still plenty useful for less demanding applications. This opens the door for stationary storage such as:

• Residential solar backup systems

• Grid-balancing storage for utilities

• This approach aligns with the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” hierarchy under the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework — reuse comes before recycling, forming part of the environmental pillar of sustainable development.

• Backup power for commercial buildings

• Nissan, for example, has repurposed used Leaf batteries to power streetlights in Japan. Other companies globally are using second-life EV batteries for modular storage units in renewable energy setups.