What is inside the Piaggio Ape E-City battery pack
The Piaggio Ape E-City carries a 8 kWh pack built from LFP Prismatic (LiFePO4) cells arranged in 4 serviceable modules at a nominal 60 V. Pack mass lands near 59 kg including the enclosure, cooling plate, contactors and BMS harness.
Because the cells are LFP Prismatic, the recoverable value profile is dominated by lithium, copper and aluminium rather than nickel and cobalt. That decides whether a retired pack is worth repurposing, refining, or both.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Chemistry | LFP Prismatic (LiFePO4) |
| Cell format | Prismatic hard case |
| Energy / voltage | 8 kWh · 60 V |
| Modules | 4 |
| Estimated pack mass | 59 kg |
| On sale since | 2021 (India) |
Step 1 — Removing and shipping a three-wheeler pack
Packs are removed from the under-seat or rear bay; high-cycle fleet packs are checked for water ingress first. Retired packs are UN 3480 or UN 3481 dangerous goods, so the pack must be below 30% state of charge and any deformation, swelling or thermal history declared before pickup.
Packs are palletised in small groups inside UN-rated boxes, with dividers between units. Fleet depots and dealer service points are scheduled as recurring milk runs rather than one-off pickups.
- Check for corrosion and water ingress in the pack bay
- Flag any aftermarket or repaired packs on the manifest
- Tape terminals and remove quick-connect plugs
- Group packs by chemistry before collection
Step 2 — Module-level state of health grading
Each of the 4 modules is tested independently — a whole-pack SOH figure hides the spread that decides second-life eligibility. We run a full capacity cycle, DC internal resistance measurement and impedance spectroscopy.
Our degradation model for the Piaggio Ape E-City shows how value falls with age. Measured results replace these estimates once the pack is on the bench.
| Service year | Modelled SOH | Grade | Residual value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 2 | 96.8% | A — BESS ready | USD 422 |
| Year 4 | 93.7% | A — BESS ready | USD 409 |
| Year 6 | 90.6% | A — BESS ready | USD 396 |
| Year 8 | 87.5% | A — BESS ready | USD 383 |
| Year 10 | 84.4% | B — Second life | USD 336 |
Step 3 — What you actually recover
For modules routed to refining, a pack of this size and chemistry typically yields about 1.3 kg lithium, 0.0 kg nickel, 0.0 kg cobalt and 4.0 kg copper.
At 80% SOH our model sends about 56% of the pack to second life, worth USD 206, and credits USD 50 for the remainder as black mass. Avoided emissions come to roughly 358 kg CO2.
Field note
Step 4 — Where to send it and what paperwork you get
Piaggio Ape E-City packs are received directly at 8 intake sites in its markets, including Chakan, Maharashtra, Sanand, Gujarat, Taloja, Maharashtra, Narela, Delhi. From there, modules move to the nearest grading bench and refinery.
Every consignment closes with a certificate showing quantity processed, recovery percentages achieved and downstream vendor disclosure, in the form needed for CPCB EPR filings under the Battery Waste Management Rules 2022. Fleets retiring several Piaggio Ape E-City units should book one consolidated pickup to cut per-pack cost.