Market incubation of Circular Economy for EV batteries using Smart Use concept

Abstract

The objective of this paper is proposing Smart Use approach, from the use side of market, to solve the issues of market incubation of Circular Economy for electric vehicles (EV) and battery, which has been rapidly expanding in recent years. Currently, there are various issues in the EV battery circular economy market in Japan. Many of these issues are caused by insecurity during use. Therefore, it is necessary to improve not only the supply side, such as recycling methods and reused battery production, but also the use side. Improvements to these issues include methods such as using battery diagnostics and other technologies to understand the condition of the batteries, thereby reducing user anxiety and supporting active use by the users. The circular economy creates new markets by maximizing the use value of products and resources so as not to generate waste. Smart use is one of the approaches to maximize such use value from the user side, and it is an approach that draws out positive actions from users by utilizing advanced IoT and other digital technologies etc. We aim for the early formation of a domestic market by concretizing solutions and promoting their widespread use.