Spatial mismatches constrain high-value utilization of retired batteries for decarbonization in China

The rapid growth of electric vehicles is generating a large and expanding stream of retired batteries. High-value pathways, including power storage applications and direct recycling, deliver substantially greater economic returns and greenhouse-gas reductions than conventional metallurgical processing. Yet the spatial separation between regions where batteries retire and centers of high-value demand threatens to leave much of this potential unrealized. Here we show, using a province-level integrated model driven by vehicle- and company-level data, that spatial mismatches lock six billion tons of climate gains from high-value utilization of retired vehicle batteries in China between 2020 and 2050. An optimal strategy that prioritizes high-value pathways, expands collection and treatment infrastructure, and establishes efficient interprovincial transport networks unlocks these gains together with cost savings of nearly four thousand billion Chinese yuan relative to a business-as-usual baseline. These results demonstrate that early, coordinated planning can convert spatial barriers into scalable climate and economic benefits, offering a transferable pathway for other rapidly electrifying markets.