The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry says it will support the development of an industry-wide system for sharing information on the degradation status of EV batteries. Toyota and Honda will provide battery-related data to used car dealers, insurance companies and others. The aim is to prevent the export of used EVs overseas and enable the domestic utilization of batteries containing critical minerals.
Currently, battery degradation is difficult to assess, resulting in low trade-in prices for used EVs in the domestic market. The fact that approximately 80% were exported overseas was a cause for concern.
Funding will come from subsidies for improving battery sustainability in the FY2025 budget. The initiative will support demonstration projects by Toyota-affiliated Prime Planet Energy & Solutions and SOMPO-affiliated Revoltex, both of which are involved in vehicle batteries. Operations will commence within the fiscal year.
Toyota, Honda and other companies will provide data on the degradation of EV batteries as measured by their own companies. Sharing information such as the battery’s manufacturer and production date is also under consideration.
Industry associations will establish the system infrastructure for this. Revoltex will develop services to make the information provided more useful for used car dealers and similar entities.
Source: The Nikkei
PSR Analysis: In a world that is accelerating towards electrification, batteries have become a strategic commodity. Other regions have imposed restrictions on the export of batteries, battery materials and battery-powered machinery. Japan, which has virtually no domestic resource production, cannot manufacture batteries domestically and relies heavily on imports. Until now, there have been almost no laws or mechanisms to restrict the export of batteries entering the country. Admittedly, this new framework is a belated action, but it is better than doing nothing at all. PSR
Akihiro Komuro is Research Analyst, Far East and Southeast Asia, for Power Systems Research
