Circular Economy – Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC)

Meet the Member: Mike Nguyen on EV battery leasing models.

On 2 April 2026 By Natasha Lawlor-Morrison In CIRCUBATT, Circular Economy, Electric Vehicles, Environmental, Meet the member, Sneak Peak, Sustainable Development, Technology

Meet Mike Nguyen one of our newer NUSC experts who started their PhD in September 2025. After seven years experience in supply chain management working with Samsung and Decathlon Vietnam, and with a Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management from Birmingham City University, pursuing a PhD in this field was a natural next step to advance his academic and professional career.

He has focused in on battery leasing strategies in electric vehicle supply chains, making use of analytical models and game theory to study how different stakeholders make decisions. The goal is to provide insights into how companies can design pricing that is both economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

Energising work on the circular economy: How can electric vehicle batteries be managed more sustainably across their lifecycle?

On 11 March 2026 By Natasha Lawlor-Morrison In CIRCUBATT, Circular Economy, Eco-Innovation, Electric Vehicles, Environmental, Green, Innovation, Research Spotlight, Technology

As transport systems shift towards hybrid and fully electric vehicles, attention is increasingly turning to the batteries that power them. While electric vehicles are central to decarbonised mobility, their batteries also raise important environmental, economic and regulatory challenges. How can these be addressed more sustainably?

Given that it is projected that 250 million electric vehicles will be on the road by 2030, it is more important than ever to ensure that we have in place scalable and sustainable strategies to recover and reuse these batteries. Creating new batteries demands raw materials like cobalt, lithium and nickel, which are difficult to extract and come at a significant resource cost and geopolitical precarity. Improper disposal of batteries also risks ecosystems and public health. Implementing circular economy principles to electric vehicle batteries not only helps recover and creates value, but also supports a more sustainable and healthy future for us all.