Porsche and German battery recycler Cylib have produced an electric-vehicle battery cell with a cathode made entirely from recycled lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. The pilot-line cells are now undergoing extensive operational testing, with Porsche targeting recovered material for new battery production from 2028.

The result is a step beyond partially recycled battery materials: every listed cathode metal in the cell came from recovered end-of-life batteries. Porsche says the project demonstrates a closed-loop approach that could reduce reliance on newly mined materials while creating the tracking systems needed for future regulation.

How Porsche and Cylib are recycling batteries

The battery-recycling pilot project began in 2025. Since May 2026, end-of-life high-voltage batteries collected from Porsche Centers across Germany have been sent through Cylib’s water-based recycling process.

That process is designed to recover raw materials from spent battery packs rather than simply storing them or sending them through basic material recovery. The difficult part is producing recovered lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese at a quality level suitable for new cathode production.

Porsche said the recovered materials are managed through a dedicated material account. The system keeps the four recovered elements separate and tracks them through the process, helping document where the recycled content goes.

“With battery cells made entirely from recycled raw materials such as lithium and cobalt, we have achieved an important technological milestone,” said Joachim Scharnagl, Porsche’s Executive Board member for procurement. Cylib co-CEO Dr. Lilian Schwich described the company’s role as closing the loop from end-of-life batteries to recovered raw materials.

When recycled materials will reach Porsche batteries

The cells produced on the pilot line are not yet identified for a production vehicle. Porsche is putting them through operational testing before the recovered materials support new battery cell production in 2028.

That timetable gives Porsche and Cylib roughly two years to validate the process, including its ability to deliver consistent materials and usable cell performance at a larger scale. The project also fits into Porsche’s broader electrification work, including development of an electric Cayman and an electric sports-car platform intended to support gas-powered engines.

EU battery passport rules arrive in 2027

The project comes as the European Union expands requirements for battery recovery and traceability. EU rules already establish minimum recovery rates for cobalt, copper, lead, nickel and lithium. A Joint Research Centre assessment published in September 2026 concluded that those targets do not need updating.

Starting February 18, 2027, every electric-vehicle battery, light-means-of-transport battery and industrial battery above 2 kilowatt-hours placed on the EU market or put into service must have a digital battery passport. The electronic record will cover approximately 71 standardized data points, including battery chemistry, lifecycle status and the share of recycled content.

For Porsche owners and fleet operators, the new process does not immediately change battery servicing. It does, however, give Porsche a developing recovery and traceability pipeline before the digital passport requirement takes effect. The next test will be whether the company can scale the process while maintaining cell reliability and production yield.