LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - British recycling firm Altilium and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will build and test battery cells made using recycled materials from old Jaguar i-Pace electric vehicles in a pilot project to demonstrate recycled battery production is possible at scale.

Part-funded by Tata Motors (TAMO.NS) , opens new tab unit JLR, Altilium and the UK state-backed Advanced Propulsion Centre, the project will run over the course of the next year and take cathode active materials from used i-Pace batteries and make new cells for testing in new JLR EVs.

The rise in EVs has brought with it a race to recycle the valuable minerals in their batteries - primarily lithium, cobalt and nickel - which can be worth thousands of euros per car, and counter China's dominance of this field.

There is also regulatory pressure on automakers and battery makers to recycle.

From 2031, new EV batteries sold into the European Union must include a minimum of 6% recycled lithium, 6% recycled nickel and 16% recycled cobalt. By 2036 these targets increase to 12%, 15% and 26%, respectively.

Altilium says that its process should also help automakers hit carbon dioxide reduction targets, as it lowers the need for newly mined materials resulting in a 60% drop in carbon emissions.

Earlier this year, SQM Lithium Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile's (SQM) (SQMA.SN) , opens new tab lithium business, provided most of a $12 million Series A funding round for Altilium.

That followed a $2.6 million investment by SQM, the world's second-largest lithium producer, in Altilium last year.

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https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/jlr-altilium-test-ev-batteries-made-with-recycled-materials-2024-09-26/