Paper Forthcoming in The Accounting Review

We are pleased to announce that the paper “Fair Market Value of Used Capacity Assets: Forecasts for Repurposed Electric Vehicle Batteries” by Amadeus Bach and Stefan J. Reichelstein (University of Mannheim, MISES Institute for Sustainable Energy Studies), together with Simona Onori and Jihan Zhuang (Stanford University), is forthcoming in The Accounting Review. 

The study develops a general framework for assessing the fair market value of used capacity assets that can either be recycled or repurposed for a second-life application. Applying this model to lithium-ion batteries retired from electric vehicles, the authors forecast the future market values of two major battery chemistries, lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) and nickel-cobalt-based (NCX), in the United States and China. The findings indicate that repurposing LFP batteries will remain economically viable in both markets over the coming decade, while for most NCX batteries, immediate recycling is likely to be the preferred option due to higher raw material value and shorter usable lives.

The paper contributes to the broader discussion on how accounting-based valuation frameworks can inform decision-making in the emerging circular economy, where repurposing and recycling of assets play a central role in sustainable business practices.

The latest working paper version is available on SSRN.