Preconditions of Circular Business Model Innovation for the Electric Vehicle Battery Second Life: An Ecosystem Perspective

Abstract

There is a strong interconnection between transportation and sustainability. Therefore, electric vehicles (EVs) have received a great deal of attention, and their sales and market share have been growing rapidly. Soon, a huge amount of EV batteries will reach their end of life that need to be handled appropriately. The second life applications are suggested as a potential solution. However, to implement such applications, there is a need to shift towards new business models, which have a central focus on circularity. Therefore, this paper studies preconditions of circular business model innovation (CBMI) for the electric vehicle battery second life from the ecosystem perspective. It also identifies current (as is) and upcoming (to be) business models. Data has been collected from fourteen companies representing the electric vehicle battery second life (EVBSL) ecosystem. Results show three types of current and three types of upcoming business models in the EVBSL ecosystem. Further, four preconditions for CBMI were found, namely, 2nd life value proposition, 2nd life value network development, 2nd life-based revenue model, and digital technologies.