EV-maker produces powerful battery cells using recycled cathode active material for the first time

A German company has successfully produced battery cells using recycled cathode active material for the first time. For this, Porsche partnered with companies such as the German recycling company cylib.

The company exclusively used battery raw materials recovered from its own high-voltage batteries. The battery cells manufactured within the pilot project are currently undergoing extensive operational testing.

Battery cells made entirely from recycled raw materials

“With battery cells made entirely from recycled raw materials such as lithium and cobalt, we have achieved an important technological milestone,” said Joachim Scharnagl, Member of the Executive Board for Procurement at Porsche.

“This innovation is a key step in advancing both circular economy principles and raw material resilience, always with the ambition of optimizing progress, quality and resource efficiency.”

This achievement continues the pilot project on high-voltage battery recycling launched last year. Within the project, Porsche and its partners recover valuable raw materials from end-of-life high-voltage batteries, process them into new materials, and subsequently use them in new battery cells for Porsche test-vehicles, according to a press release.

Battery recycling loop

Following the recovery and processing stages, the project has now entered its next phase: for the first time, recycled active materials fully replace conventionally used primary raw materials. The recycled cathode active materials include lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese.

“cylib closes the battery recycling loop, from end-of-life batteries to recovered raw materials,” says Dr. Lilian Schwich, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of cylib.

“The pilot project with Porsche demonstrates that our approach is feasible in practice: valuable raw materials from Porsche batteries at the end of their first life can potentially flow back into new high-performance batteries for Porsche vehicles.”

The company revealed that beyond the recovery of raw materials, Porsche is placing a strong emphasis on the quality of the recycled materials. The next step is to ensure that the recycled raw materials meet Porsche’s high standards for value, quality and performance when used in batteries. Initial tests have already indicated the technical feasibility of the approach. Further results are expected in the second half of 2026. Insights gained from the pilot project will form the basis for a potential future application of these materials in series-production battery cells.

The findings from the pilot project are already being incorporated into Porsche’s regular battery disposal process. The partnership between Porsche and cylib enables the recycling of end-of-life high-voltage batteries collected from Porsche Centers across Germany. Since May 2026, the batteries have been recycled using an innovative water-based process. The recovered battery raw materials are tracked through a dedicated material account and will be available to Porsche and selected partner companies for battery cell production beginning in 2028.

This approach aims to reduce dependence on global raw material sources. In the future, battery raw materials recycled in Europe could be used in high-voltage batteries for Porsche vehicles.

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