Most Salvage Yards will NOT take EVs.

First I would say you are mistaking the term “market” for “free market”. Even when you have a situation with massive government subsidies and regulations, there is still a market and market forces apply. It is just not a simple supply and demand system.

Also, in this case, we are talking about the market for the elements that are used to make the batteries, not the EV market.

As the demand for these minerals increase (even demand driven by subsidies for EVs), the price of the supply will increase. Once that price hits a level where obtaining them via recovery becomes economically feasible, an industry will form around that.

If there is an opportunity to make money from battery recycling, someone is going to do it. Right now there isn’t one. But as demand increases and the price of mined minerals increase, the system will reach a new balance point.

Can't we just send them to Ukraine with a catapult so Zelenskyy can start a new offensive? Give them a new name like "Cluster-F" to impress the press.

On a side note, this inability to find a use for garbage has been plaguing the recycling industry for years. We can't find a use for old plastic and newspaper now, so having unusable EV's stacked up next to windmill arms should not be a big surprise.

Related...

EV batteries lack repairability leading some insurers to junk whole cars after even minor collisions
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/ev-batteries-lack-repairability-leading-insurers-junk-whole-cars-minor-collisions

“We’re buying electric cars for sustainability reasons,” Avery said, Reuters reported. “But an EV isn’t very sustainable if you’ve got to throw the battery away after a minor collision.”

These cars also pile up in scrapyards, usually with low mileage, exacerbating the problem.

If they are piling up in junkyards, where are these yards?

I decided to go ogle the words, “junk yards that accept electric vehicles,” but I was unable to get a listing for any junkyard.

I did find this interesting Washington Post news article about the problem of EVs in junk yards. Now I can understand why they would be hesitant to have them in their yards.

A Tesla was in a junkyard for three weeks. Then it burst into flames.
(pay wall)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/22/tesla-fire-sacramento/

Archived version anyone can read.
https://archive.is/HYFF0#selection-379.0-379.69

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