Design matters: The influence of EV battery pack design for disassembly on environmental and circularity impact

The increasing electrification of two-wheelers requires battery pack designs that align with circular economy (CE) principles. Despite growing efforts to integrate CE considerations, current battery pack designs remain largely performance-driven and often overlook critical aspects such as disassembly and serviceability. This study addresses this gap by conducting an early-stage evaluation of sustainability and disassembly performance across three different battery pack configurations. The analysis compares three designs: a sealed battery (SB) without disassembly potential and two alternatives designed for disassembly, namely the exchangeable-lid battery (ELB) and the liquid-filled battery (LFB). A comprehensive framework combining Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), circularity assessment, and the Ease of Disassembly Metric (eDiM) is applied to examine both the environmental implications and disassembly feasibility of these designs. The results indicate that, while the ELB and LFB exhibit higher environmental impacts during production and use, they offer substantial sustainability advantages in crash scenarios by enabling repair and reuse. A similar pattern is observed in the circularity assessment, where both ELB and LFB achieve higher circularity scores compared to the SB. Furthermore, the disassembly analysis highlights trade-offs between the two designs intended for disassembly: the ELB requires longer disassembly time due to the numerous screws and glued joints, whereas the LFB reduces fastening complexity but necessitates additional time for fluid drainage. This study represents the first quantitative integration of environmental and disassembly assessments at the early product design stage, providing a methodological foundation for evaluating trade-offs between sustainability, circularity, and practical repairability in electric two-wheeler battery systems.