Our Move to Unpainted Lids

At Infinitev, we’re always looking for ways to make remanufactured EV batteries more sustainable. Our latest initiative is a small change with a big impact—stopping the painting of battery lids. While this may seem like a minor adjustment, it brings significant environmental and operational benefits, helping us further reduce the carbon footprint of remanufactured batteries.

Remanufacturing Saves 98.5% of CO2-e

A little while ago, we commissioned The University of Melbourne to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of our remanufacturing process. They found that, on a per-battery basis, replacing a faulty battery with a remanufactured one from Infinitev has a footprint of 18.39 kg CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions. By contrast, a brand new one from the original equipment manufacturer comes with an estimated 1,255.72 kg CO2e - that's a whopping 68 times as much. You can read more about the LCA here. 

Why We're Ditching the Paint

You could easily argue that a 98.5% saving versus the alternative is pretty decent, but we knew there was more to gain. When we unpack the make-up of our remanufactured battery's emissions footprint, we can distinguish between discretionary and non-discretionary emissions. 

We define non-discretionary emissions as those where we don't really have a choice. For example, our facility is powered by solar panels and we use our own microgrid to avoid wasting any energy that comes into the building, but there's still a footprint embedded in the manufacture and installation of those solar panels. That cannot be negated. Similarly, we need to use stickers with safety warnings and instructions in plain English to keep our Authorised Fitters safe. Non-negotiable. 

Discretionary emissions are from activites that don't perform a safety function or that cannot be negated like those of solar panels. For us, that meant rethinking why we're painting our battery lids.

Painting battery lids has traditionally been done for cosmetic purposes and to put a protective coating on the lid. However, the process comes with drawbacks:

• Environmental Impact: Paint production and application generate emissions and waste. Eliminating this step reduces the use of harmful chemicals and energy-intensive processes.

• Resource Efficiency: By skipping painting, we conserve materials that would otherwise be used in coatings, contributing to a more circular economy.

• Operational Improvements: Removing the painting step streamlines our remanufacturing process, reducing time and cost while maintaining the high-quality standards our customers have come to expect.

As we've grown, we have greater choice of lids so we can select the best ones that don't need painting so that they can be reused. This means we recycle those in a poor condition, and we clean the goods ones without painting them. 

Emissions footprint before and after painting; improving where we can. 

A Future Without Unnecessary Waste

At Infinitev, we are committed to reducing waste and improving the sustainability of EV batteries. Removing paint from battery lids aligns with our broader mission to extend battery life, repurpose valuable materials, and minimize environmental impact. Every step we take—no matter how small—moves us closer to a greener future.

As the EV industry grows, so does the responsibility to innovate in ways that support a circular economy. By making thoughtful choices like eliminating painted lids, we’re proving that sustainability and performance can go hand in hand.

What would we love to do next? FInd a way to collect and deliver our batteries on zero emissions vehicles. Unfortunately, there choices out there are limited today. There's more environmental savings to be had! Stay tuned for more updates on how we’re rethinking battery remanufacturing for a cleaner, more efficient future.