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RACE Energy, an India-based deep-tech electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure company specializing in battery swapping has announced a strategic partnership with LOHUM, a leading producer of sustainable energy transition materials through recycling and refining.
This partnership aligns with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines for responsible battery management, ensuring that more than 90% of RACE’s used batteries will be recycled or refurbished.
In June 2023, RACE Energy inaugurated its state-of-the-art battery manufacturing facility, featuring a 50 MWh production plant capable of deploying 30,000 batteries annually. RACE’s proactive sustainability approach extends the battery life by approximately 40% through unique charging algorithms and internal cooling systems at the battery swap station. As RACE scales up its battery-swapping operations, this partnership with LOHUM is a significant step toward responsible battery disposal in India’s burgeoning EV market.
LOHUM made history in September 2023 by becoming the first non-Chinese company to produce Pure Metallic Lithium using their NEETM multi-stage hydrometallurgical energy transition material recycling technology. The development holds significant implications for closed-loop battery materials, extending RACE’s EV batteries’ usefulness and value in secondary raw material and second-life ecosystems.
Commenting about the partnership, Gautham Maheswaran, Co-Founder, of RACE Energy says, “We have always worked towards ensuring the optimal use of our batteries at RACE. With our in-house software, we incentivize drivers and encourage them to efficiently use their batteries for shorter ranges, enabling them to be utilized at a much lower State of Health (SOH) level. This partnership with LOHUM enables us to further extend the life of swappable battery modules, which will be seamlessly transitioned into useful second-life applications. The raw materials extracted from the batteries will feed into Lithium-ion cell manufacturing, thus creating a circular economy for EV batteries in India.”
“We at LOHUM applaud the contributions of RACE Energy to boost the sustainability of EV batteries and the viability of EV infrastructure. RACE’s innovations resonate with LOHUM’s mission of accelerating the clean energy transition by building a parallel supply of secondary raw materials and making battery materials last forever. This partnership with RACE enables us to further expand the supply of clean energy transition materials needed for the manufacturing of new batteries via recycling while easing the demand for mined primary raw materials that need to be imported to power India’s expeditiously growing EV ecosystem, via repurposing,” Chetan Jain, Senior VP – Business, LOHUM added.