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This study provides a comprehensive analysis of global patent trends in battery recycling, focusing on secondary batteries and related technologies across Korea, China, and the United States. The methodology involved collecting data from various patent databases, followed by quantitative analysis to identify technology trends and guide future development. The research employed statistical tools to analyze patent activities, including the frequency and scope of patent filings, and comparative analysis to highlight differences between countries. This study reveals distinct emphases on technologies such as lithium-ion and waste battery recycling, highlighting notable differences in patent activities among key companies and countries. China's large number of patents in battery manufacturing processes contrasts with the USA's focus on electrochemical cell construction and storage systems, while Korea shows significant activity in waste battery technology. The novelty of this paper lies in its detailed comparative analysis of patent trends across these three major economies, providing insights into the technological focuses and priorities of each country. The study also identifies key challenges, such as the need for consistent innovation and broader geographic coverage in Korea, enhancing patent influence and international presence in China, and ensuring high patent quality and fostering innovation in lagging sectors in the United States. Addressing these challenges through enhanced collaboration, increased R&D investments, and supportive policies is crucial for strengthening the global position and driving further innovation in the battery recycling sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The spatial-temporal distribution of electric vehicle (EV) charging loads can be improved by implementing optimized charging scheduling, and by the joint planning of a distribution network (DN) and a charging network of EVs. In this paper, such a joint planning scheme was studied and modeled as two-level optimization model. In the upper level of the optimization, a joint planning model of a DN and a charging network of EVs with distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems and/or energy storage (ES) units is constructed to minimize the total cost. Then the optimized results of the DN and the EV charging network construction plan are used as the inputs of the lower-level operation model. In the lower-level operation optimization, an optimal charging scheduling approach is proposed to minimize the sum of the DN's operation cost and the traffic congestion cost. The spatial-temporal distribution of the charging demand, under an optimized charging strategy, is used as feedback for the upper-level optimization model, which effectively can reduce the scale of the DN and the charging network construction. The proposed joint planning model was demonstrated through applications in a city in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicles (EVs) are considered a promising solution for reducing emissions in urban transportation and addressing energy crises. Several countries, including China, have implemented direct financial subsidies to encourage the adoption of EVs. However, there is a lack of comprehensive evaluation regarding the effectiveness of these subsidies and their interaction with non-financial incentive policies. Additionally, the design of subsidy policies can be endogenous, potentially leading to biased estimations of their effects on EV penetration. To address these issues, this study utilizes a "quasi-natural experiment" approach, taking advantage of the gradual reduction of nationwide EV subsidies by the Chinese government due to financial constraints, rather than market conditions, thus mitigating the endogeneity problem. The study collects panel data from 224 prefecture-level cities in China and employs a modified panel data fixed effects model to quantify the impact of financial subsidies on EV sales and market shares. The analysis focuses on subsidy variations during six periods. The main empirical findings are as follows: (1) 1 % increase in purchase subsidies leads to a 1.36 % increase in EV sales and a 2.31 % increase in EV market share. (2) Non-financial policies, such as parking benefits, promotional goals, and restrictions on the number of vehicles, also contribute to boosting EV sales. (3) The effects of purchase subsidies vary across cities with different socio-economic conditions. (4) Some non-financial policies are found to enhance the positive effects of subsidy policies. [Display omitted] • We empirically examine the impact of the purchase subsidy on EV promotion in China. • A subsidy decline due to government financial burden is used as a quasi-natural experiment. • Purchase subsidy and some non-financial policies are found to promote EVs penetration. • Heterogeneous effects of purchase subsidy on different kinds of Chinese cities are verified. • Some non-financial policies are found to enhance the positive effect of the subsidy policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The matching between random wind supply and electric vehicle (EV) charging demand can reduce the requirement of traditional power sources and the emission of CO2. This problem is of great practical interest but involves system dynamics in multiple timescales. We consider this an important problem in this paper. In order to capture the randomness in the wind supply and EV charging demand, we formulate the problem as a bilevel Markov decision process. At the upper level, the charging demand of EVs in different locations is aggregated into multiple aggregators. The system operator dispatches power among the aggregators in a coarse timescale to maximize the wind power utilization. At the lower level, the aggregator schedules the charging process of individual EVs at a finer timescale to minimize the charging cost. In order to solve this large-scale problem, a bilevel simulation-based policy improvement (SBPI) method is developed. It is mathematically proved that the SBPI can improve from base policies in both levels. The performance of this multi-timescale and bilevel coordination approach is demonstrated through case studies in the city of Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand-side decarbonization and electrification promote a strong coupling between electric vehicles (EVs) and buildings. From a building-centric perspective, this paper established a survey-based simulation platform for charging system design, which supports annual simulations with a 15-min interval. Field survey data of private vehicles in two office buildings located in Beijing (a metropolis) and Ruicheng (a county in China) were used as inputs and for validation. The platform was applied to analyze workplace charging and give suggestions for charging system design. First, the city size greatly influences vehicle behavior and charging demands. This study indicates an unusual double-peak charging demand on weekdays in the county case due to different vehicle behavior from the urban cases. Second, slow charging at workplaces can almost meet the intra-urban travel demand of private EVs. Specifically, chargers with a rated power of 3–4 kW can achieve a guarantee level of EV use of SOC 0.999 = 20%. Third, the low solar self-consumption rate of current PV charging systems (generally 18%∼42%) mainly results from significant PV surpluses on weekends and in summer. These findings emphasize building-centric planning of EV-related infrastructures and proper charging strategies for energy interaction between EVs and buildings. [Display omitted] • Electric vehicle (EV) behavior is investigated from a building-centric perspective. • A simulation platform is developed for charging system design (τ = 1 yr, Δ τ = 15 min). • City size greatly influences vehicle behavior and charging demands. • Slow charging at workplace can meet the intra-urban travel demand of private EVs. • PV surpluses on weekends and in summer result in low solar power self-consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicles produce zero tailpipe emissions during operation and have thus been considered a most promising method for providing mobility while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the transportation sector in the future. The life-cycle cost of electric vehicles has been widely studied to evaluate their competitiveness compared to conventional vehicles. However, the competitiveness of electric vehicles is highly dependent on government promotion policies, and the effects of non-economic incentive policies are currently difficult to include in life-cycle cost analysis. These non-economic effects are usually measured by the intangible cost. Traffic policies represent typical non-economic incentive policies. In China, electric vehicles are exempted from purchase restrictions (license plate control policy) and driving restrictions; thus, the intangible cost of traffic policies has significant effects on the comparison of electric vehicles and conventional vehicles. In this paper, from the consumers’ perspective, the intangible cost of purchase and driving restrictions is modeled and expressed in monetary terms; then, the impact of these non-economic incentive policies are compared with subsidies and other costs of vehicles. Thus, a more comprehensive comparison between electric and conventional vehicles can be provided. Using three selected typical battery electric vehicles and three correspondingly similarly sized conventional vehicles in China, the private life-cycle costs of battery electric vehicles and conventional vehicles are calculated and compared, a parametric variation analysis is performed, and the effects of economic and non-economic incentive policies in different cities are discussed. The comparison shows that, considering the tangible costs of vehicles, battery electric vehicles are not currently economically competitive compared with conventional vehicles, and both national and local subsidies are necessary for battery electric vehicles to compensate the cost gap between battery electric vehicles and conventional vehicles in the short term. However, considering the intangible costs, the advantages of traffic policies are very prominent in mega-cities but are significantly smaller in second-tier cities. With the increasingly worse traffic and environmental problems China facing, it is suggested that the promotion of electric vehicles in mega-cities be prioritized and that electric vehicle promotion policies based on taxes, subsidies and traffic control be balanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer electronics (CE) and electric vehicles (EVs) associated with renewable and sustainable energy have been rapidly changing human lifestyles and transportation habits since 1990s. These active innovations have resulted in a large amount of spent lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) in China. At least two problems are declining the sustainability of production and final disposal of LiBs: one is potential environmental and health risk, and the other is that more and more valuable resources are being stored in spent LiBs without appropriate recycling. We found that a lack of effective regulation, collection systems and recycling technologies are major barriers and challenges to solve the problems. And in order to develop a comprehensive management scheme for this waste stream in China, we proposed a three-pronged approach: (1) new regulation or policy is quite a necessity to deal with the challenges unique to spent LiBs recycling; (2) collection systems for CE and EV batteries can be substantially established based upon past experience of general e-waste management and extended producer responsibility, respectively; and (3) more emphasis needs to be placed on new technology for spent LiBs recycling, to tackle the large quantities of stored spent LiBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depletion of fossil fuel deposits is the main current issue related to the world's power generation. Renewable energy sources integrated with energy efficiency represent an effective solution. The electrification of end-use coupled with renewable power generation integration is considered as an important tool to achieve these tasks. However, the current electric power system does not currently have the suitable features to allow this change. Therefore, in the future, it has to allow two-way direction power flows, communication, and automated controls to fully manage the system and customers. The resulting system is defined as the smart grid. This article analyses the smart grid state of play within China, the US, and the EU, assessing the completion state of each smart grid technology and integrated asset. The analysis related to these countries presented here shows that the smart grid overall state of play in China, the US, and the EU are equal to 18%, 15%, and 13%, respectively, unveiling the need related to further efforts and investments in these countries for the full smart grid development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]