However, during my time at Tesla, I did a deep dive into the environment, energy and safety issues that we were trying to address and became more curious about the supply chain and lifecycle of our products. Were they actually sustainable? Were there any gaps that we still needed to address? The answer was in the very technology that powers all of our products - the lithium-ion battery.
Currently, different companies use lithium-ion batteries with different form factors, or chemistries, that are specific to the technology they've developed. Simply put, the recipe isn’t the same across the board. When you don’t have a standardized product, it’s hard to set a recycling process. In addition, these batteries are relatively new on the market, and for lack of a better word, they’re huge! Mass recycling is going to be a tough one to figure out, and right now, it’s often dismissed as a future problem.
Once I learned about this issue, I applied for a Fulbright-Schuman Scholarship to the European Union (EU) to do research. Over the next nine months, I’ll be exploring lithium-ion battery recycling processes and policy implementation in Brussels, Berlin and London. Because Brussels is so central, I also get to travel to other cities and countries as part of my research and cultural exchange. Thus far, I've made it to the Netherlands and France as well! In Berlin and London, I’ll do both technical research and better understand what the process of implementing an EU policy in a member-state really looks like.
I hope that you feel like you know my story better - where I started, the ways it changed and how I ended up in Europe. I can’t wait to hear from all of you when we have our first video chat!
