Roadmap needed to develop ‘clean’ auto industry

In order to develop the electric vehicle industry, charging stations, batteries and reasonable prices are needed. However, in Vietnam there is still no comprehensive policy for these issues, particularly for the disposal and treatment of battery waste.

Electric cars are cleaner than cars with internal combustion engines (fueled with gasoline and oil). This is seen as a global solution to the problems of air pollution and climate change. But are they as clean as people imagine? The answer is no '.

“Electric vehicles themselves, when manufactured on a large scale, will also cause many environmental problems, such as: B. the battery manufacture and battery discharge process; rechargeable electricity from fossil energy sources (thermal energy) or new energy, renewable energy (solar energy, wind energy), ”said Nguyen Trung Hieu, Head of the Policy Subcommittee of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA).

The development of electric vehicles will greatly increase the demand for electricity. In countries with huge renewable energy sources like hydropower, wind power and solar power, the use of electric vehicles will significantly reduce air pollution.

In countries with large thermal energy sources (coal, gas, oil) like the electricity structure like Vietnam, the use of electric vehicles only helps to reduce air pollution in urban areas by replacing gasoline cars with electric cars. The overall effect of environmental protection will not be complete. In other words, electric cars will also pressurize increasing heat capacity, a source of pollution.

Instead of having to inhale the exhaust fumes from gasoline cars, we will continue to be exposed to toxic gases and dusts, but possibly less from thermal power plants.

A more important and long-term environmental problem that countries around the world are dealing with is the production of batteries and the disposal of used batteries from electric vehicles at the end of their life.

The battery is one of the most important parts of an electric car and accounts for about 30% of the cost of a vehicle. Most electric cars currently use lithium-ion batteries. There are some hybrid models from Toyota that use nickel-metal hydride batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries contain several metals like Li, Al, Ni, Co, Mn, Fe and organic solvents like dimethyl carbonate (DMC), propylene carbonate (PC), ethylene carbonate (EC) and hexafluorophosphate (PF6). As a result, lithium batteries are not treated carefully and they pollute the environment with metals and electrolytes. The risk is much higher than air pollution.

Dr. However, Dam Hoang Phuc of the Institute of Dynamic Mechanics at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, who has long been involved in this issue, said, “Don't worry about environmental issues and say no to electric cars. Electric vehicles are not environmentally friendly, but they are concentrated pollutants that we can fully manage based on legal corridors and modern science and technology. "

Battery Waste Treatment Roadmap

DR. Hoang Quoc Viet - Vietnamese Institute for Quality Standards.

Researcher Hans Eric Melin said the amount of lithium-ion batteries in the world is rapidly increasing from more than 1 million tons in 2016 to nearly 1.5 million tons in 2020 and could reach nearly 5 million tons by 2025.

This will worry and stress many countries in the years to come if EV batteries are not dealt with methodically.

Forecast of lithium-ion batteries by Hans Eric Melin, published in the documents: "State of the art in the reuse and recycling of lithium-ion batteries - A research report" and "The lithium-ion battery end-of- Life Market ".

In Vietnam, electric cars are still a relatively new concept. According to the Vietnam Register Agency, Vietnam had around 240 electric cars in 2019, more than 400 in 2020, and nearly 600 electric cars were imported into Vietnam in the first quarter of 2021.

In total, more than 1,200 electric cars are in use in the country, including hybrid cars.

The electric car issue recently became a "hot trend" in public opinion when Vinfast officially launched its first electric car model, as well as the first electric cars in Vietnam.

With the determination to realize Vinfast's dream of making electric cars "made in Vietnam" and importing electric cars, the number of electric vehicles in Vietnam is predicted to increase sharply in the near future.

With an average life of lithium-ion batteries of 10-15 years, Vietnam has to prepare a scenario for the active handling of old batteries in the next 10 years.

At this time, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has not issued any specific regulations regarding the handling of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. In Appendix 1, circular 36/2015 / BTNMT on the disposal of hazardous waste, there are only provisions for the classification of hazardous waste into groups including lead-acid batteries; Ni-Cd batteries (nickel, cadium batteries); Batteries containing mercury; and other batteries.

Lithium-ion batteries from electric cars are on the same list with many other types of batteries and accumulators and are still treated with similar measures to other types of waste batteries: recycling, metal separation, packaged and stored in cells.

After many years of research on lithium-ion batteries, Dr. Hoang Quoc Viet from the Vietnam Institute of Standards and Quality stated that the recovery and recycling of metals in batteries in South Korea is usually done by chemical and mechanical methods.

“These methods are not overly complicated, but the treatment requires a lot of chemicals and electricity. In addition, an initial investment is also required to build a standard treatment system, ”he said.

Dr. Viet said the Vietnamese government should have a specific roadmap to encourage manufacturers to choose suitable lithium-ion battery technology with high durability and have a subsidy policy for customers who use this type of battery. At the same time, it is necessary to immediately develop a process for the treatment of old batteries and electric vehicles at the end of their service life in order to "advance" the processing technology and to avoid a solid waste crisis in the future.

Electric cars are a beautiful dream, but not a perfect “green” vehicle. If Vietnam is to enter the electric vehicle market, it must lay sustainable foundations before this type of vehicle explodes in the near future.

Hoang Hiep

Vietnam in a good position to start the electric car industry

Vietnam has the ability to make electric cars more easily than other countries with an already established auto industry, as Vietnam doesn't have an auto industry that would have to be sacrificed, experts say.

Battery technology will determine the race for electric cars

Only when fast-charging batteries are combined with a nationwide system of charging stations will electric cars become popular in Vietnam.

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