Repurposing – a second life for batteries

High-voltage batteries for electric buses can have more than one life

High-voltage batteries not only make up a large part of the technology of a Mercedes-Benz electric bus, they also contain valuable raw materials. The Daimler Buses new repurposing, or "R strategies", aims to close the loop by making efficient use of resources, reusing materials and further reducing environmental impact.

Environmental protection through the circular economy
As a globally operating company, Daimler Buses is dedicated to improving the quality of life and protecting the environment in relevant regions and markets. We are continually striving to reduce the carbon footprint of our products. By 2039, for example, all new vehicles and production processes will be completely CO2e-neutral*.

Repurposing – reusing high-voltage batteries after the end of their life cycle – is a key aspect of our strategy for reducing the carbon footprint of our products .

Using high-voltage batteries outside buses
If a high-voltage battery can no longer be used in a vehicle, this is far from the end of its useful life. Within our Repurpose scheme, used batteries are professionally remanufactured and used for a new purpose. This significantly increases the service life of a battery and so increases its total energy throughput across its lifetime.

After their first life being used in vehicles, our batteries are usually still in very good condition and therefore too valuable to be directly recycled. Instead, the remaining capacity of the batteries is put to further use, for example as universal storage solutions in solar parks or wind farms. If custom solutions are required, Daimler Buses Solutions is the ideal partner in all relevant aspects of converting bus fleets to electric mobility.

This type of reuse is more resource-efficient than direct recovery by recycling and contributes to the transition to a circular economy.

*CO2e-neutral means that CO2e emissions released into the atmosphere by a company’s activities must be compensated by offsetting a corresponding amount of CO2e. Compensation can be achieved in various ways: Reduction of emissions, reduction of energy consumption, conversion to renewable energies or similar, or through CO₂ storage or absorption.

**CO2e stands for carbon dioxide equivalent and refers to the total amount of greenhouse gases released by a specific activity or process. It includes not only carbon dioxide, but also other greenhouse gases such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3) by comparing their climate impact to that of CO2. As these gases have different effects on the climate, CO2e gives us more comprehensive view of the climate impact of a particular activity.