Ecodesign Strategies for Battery Enclosures: A Design-Driven Approach to Modularity, Single-Materiality and Circularity

The environmental impact of battery systems is strongly influenced by early design decisions related to materials, structural architecture and assembly strategies. While extensive research addresses battery performance and recycling processes, fewer studies focus on how ecodesign principles can be systematically translated into concrete design solutions at the product level. This article presents an ecodesign strategy applied to the development of a battery enclosure from an industrial design perspective. The proposed approach combines the use of aluminium with high recycled content, a modular enclosure based on extruded profiles adaptable to different battery sizes, a single-material architecture enabled by welded joints, and reversible fastened connections to support assembly, disassembly and repairability. The article discusses how ecodesign criteria such as material efficiency, circularity, modularity and design for assembly and disassembly (DfA/DfD) can be embedded into a coherent battery enclosure concept, while also addressing the main limitations and trade-offs of the proposed strategy.