The body of a car sits raised in an empty warehouse

What we offer

Designing vehicles for a circular economy

Circular consulting

We know electrical cars are better for the environment when it comes to fuel consumption and pollution.

However, what happens with the materials, especially the battery, once they reach the end of their possible use – can they be recycled in practice and at scale?

Our project team worked closely with a renowned automotive manufacturer to determine how its electric vehicles can be fit for a circular economy.

Recycling processes mapping

We first analyzed the global vehicle and battery recycling processes to determine the recycling potential for electric vehicles in the client's key markets, taking into account geographical disparities in recycling systems, processes, and legislation. Based on this, we developed an informed projection of the future demand and supply of recycled material for battery manufacturing.

Design for circularity analysis

To understand to what extent a car design is in line with circular economy principles, we produced a design for circularity analysis, using our product analysis framework, which considers the circular economy loops from three key perspectives: business model, product design, and system. The analysis combined insights from desk research, expert interviews, and a physical disassembly of a car and of a high-voltage battery (we don’t shy away from getting our hands dirty). After all this, we were confident to provide our client with a set of circular economy design guidelines that its engineers can use to design vehicles for a circular economy.