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Fair Market Value of Used Capacity Assets: Forecasts for Repurposed Electric Vehicle Batteries

AMADEUS BACH1; Simona Onori2; Stefan Reichelstein2,1; Jihan Zhuang2

1 University of Mannheim · 2 Stanford University

The Accounting Review 2026 open access

ABSTRACT In response to growing economic and environmental concerns, companies in a range of industries seek to repurpose products (assets) that retain functional capacity beyond their initial first life. This paper examines a generic valuation model for used capacity assets that can either be recycled immediately or repurposed for a second life application. We apply our model framework to lithium-ion batteries retired from electric vehicles, as these assets typically retain substantial energy storage capacity at the end of their first life. Our analysis focuses on two battery chemistries: lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) and nickel-cobalt-X (NCX) based. We project their future fair market values in the United States and China. Our findings indicate that repurposing LFP batteries will be economically viable in both countries for the coming decade. In contrast, for most NCX batteries immediate recycling will soon be preferable due to their more valuable raw material content and shorter usable lives.

DOI
10.2308/tar-2025-0024
Volume
101 (2)
Pages
33-55
Language
en
Export
BibTeX
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