Electric cars are here to stay, and the topic of what to do with their battery packs once they are no longer suitable for the road remains a major concern among skeptics.
A response to these concerns is currently being offered in California by B2U Storage Solutions Inc, a Los Angeles-based startup that uses old electric vehicle batteries as energy storage systems that can back up the grid.
B2U indicated that its use of old electric vehicle batteries could significantly reduce the cost of carbon-free energy storage.
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| California: Reusing electric vehicle batteries for energy storage |
- The company also noted that, to date, it has a storage capacity of 25 MWh tied to a solar site in Lancaster, California.
- It is claimed that the battery storage system, which is built up of 1,300 used electric car batteries, is the first of its sort.
- The system is promising, with B2U CEO Freeman Hall stating that batteries earned $1 million last year selling energy in the wholesale energy market.
- Hall also estimates that using older electric vehicle batteries could reduce grid-wide battery installation costs by about 40%.
- So far, the B2U system uses batteries from old Honda and Nissan electric cars, some as old as eight years.
- Given all the work that goes into creating this battery, the second use and reuse period aid in making the total life cycle more energy-efficient, according to Hall, speaking to Reuters.
- What's particularly impressive about B2U technology is that its solution doesn't even require disassembling or reconfiguring old EV batteries.
- The batteries themselves are delivered in a climate-controlled storage compartment the size of a shipping container and used with their existing casings.
- The batteries are also managed by the onboard management software.