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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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Porsche Achieves Battery Recycling Breakthrough by Making New EV Cells From Recycled Materials

For the first time, Porsche has successfully produced battery cells using cathode active material recovered from its own end-of-life high-voltage batteries. The milestone could mark an important step toward creating a more circular and resource-efficient future for electric vehicles.

As electric vehicles (EVs) become more common, the question of what happens to their batteries at the end of their useful life is becoming increasingly important. EV batteries contain valuable materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. Instead of allowing these materials to become waste, manufacturers are exploring ways to recover them and use them again.

German automaker Porsche is now testing this approach through a battery recycling pilot project carried out with recycling partners, including German company cylib.

The project has reached an important new stage. Porsche has produced battery cells using recycled cathode active materials recovered entirely from its own high-voltage batteries.


From Old Battery to New Battery Cell

The basic idea behind the project is simple: materials from an old battery are recovered, processed and eventually returned to the battery manufacturing process.

However, making this happen at the required quality level is technically challenging.

Porsche and its partners first recover valuable raw materials from end-of-life high-voltage batteries. These materials are then processed into battery-grade materials that can potentially be used to manufacture new cells.

In the latest stage of the pilot project, recycled cathode active materials have completely replaced conventionally sourced primary materials in the test battery cells.

The recycled materials include lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese—important elements used in modern battery technology.

The resulting battery cells are now undergoing extensive operational testing to determine how well they perform under different conditions.

A Major Step Toward a Circular Battery Economy

Joachim Scharnagl, Porsche's Member of the Executive Board for Procurement, described the achievement as an important technological milestone.

The company's goal is not simply to recycle batteries, but to create a cycle in which valuable materials can return to the production of new batteries.

This concept is often described as a circular economy.

In a traditional battery supply chain, raw materials are extracted from the ground, processed, turned into battery components and eventually used in vehicles. When a battery reaches the end of its useful life, many of its materials could potentially be recovered.

A circular approach attempts to bring those recovered materials back into the manufacturing system.

If this can be done efficiently and at large scale, fewer newly mined materials may be required for future battery production.

cylib Helps Close the Recycling Loop

Porsche is working with cylib, a German battery recycling company, as part of the project.

According to cylib, its technology is designed to recover valuable materials from end-of-life batteries and return them to the battery supply chain.

Dr. Lilian Schwich, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of cylib, said the Porsche pilot project demonstrates that this approach can work in practice.

The important part is the complete recycling loop.

A battery that has reached the end of its first life can be collected, processed and separated into valuable materials. Those materials can then be transformed into new battery materials and eventually incorporated into new battery cells.

For electric vehicle manufacturers, this could become increasingly important as larger numbers of EV batteries eventually reach the end of their first vehicle life.

Quality Is Just as Important as Recycling

Recycling battery materials is only part of the challenge.

For these materials to be used in high-performance EV batteries, they must meet strict requirements for quality, consistency and performance.

Porsche says it is therefore placing strong emphasis on the quality of the recovered materials.

Initial tests have indicated that the approach is technically feasible. However, the company is continuing to conduct extensive testing before determining whether the technology can eventually be used in series-production battery cells.

Further results from the pilot project are expected in the second half of 2026.

The results will help Porsche understand whether recycled materials can consistently meet the company's requirements for future battery applications.

Batteries From Porsche Centers Across Germany

The recycling project is also becoming part of Porsche's regular battery disposal process.

End-of-life high-voltage batteries collected from Porsche Centers across Germany can enter the recycling system developed through the partnership with cylib.

Since May 2026, these batteries have been processed using a water-based recycling process.

Another interesting part of the system is material tracking.

The recovered battery raw materials are tracked through a dedicated material account. Porsche says these materials are expected to become available to the company and selected partners for battery-cell production beginning in 2028.

This system could help create a clearer connection between batteries that reach the end of their useful life and the raw materials recovered from them.

Could This Reduce Dependence on New Raw Materials?

Electric vehicle batteries require several important raw materials, and much of the global supply chain depends on mining, processing and international transportation.

Recycling could provide another source of these materials.

Instead of relying entirely on newly extracted lithium, nickel, cobalt and other materials, manufacturers could potentially supplement their supply with materials recovered from used batteries.

Porsche says its approach is intended to reduce dependence on global raw material sources.

In the future, recycled battery materials recovered in Europe could potentially be used to manufacture high-voltage batteries for vehicles produced in the region.

However, large-scale recycling still faces challenges, including collection, transportation, processing costs, material quality and the ability to scale recycling technologies efficiently.

What Happens Next?

The latest achievement does not mean that Porsche's recycled battery technology is already being used across mass-produced vehicles.

The cells produced in the pilot project are currently being tested. Engineers need to evaluate their performance and determine whether recycled materials can reliably meet the demanding requirements of high-performance EV batteries.

The results expected later in 2026 will provide more information about the technology's potential.

If the approach proves successful, the lessons learned from the pilot project could eventually support the use of recycled materials in series-production battery cells.

The planned availability of recovered materials for battery-cell production from 2028 could represent another step toward this goal.

A New Chapter for EV Battery Recycling

Porsche's latest achievement highlights how EV battery recycling is moving beyond simply recovering materials from old batteries.

The bigger goal is to return those materials to the battery manufacturing process.

By producing test cells using recycled cathode active materials recovered from its own batteries, Porsche and its partners have demonstrated an important part of that concept.

The technology still needs further testing and validation, and its future large-scale application will depend on performance, quality, cost and manufacturing requirements.

But the basic idea is powerful: an electric vehicle battery reaching the end of its first life does not necessarily mean the end of the materials inside it.

With effective recycling, valuable lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese could potentially become part of another generation of batteries—helping create a more circular EV industry and making better use of the resources already in the battery supply chain.

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