Outdated EV batteries are being reused as power storage units in CA
Electrical automobiles are right here to remain, and the topic of what to do with their battery packs as soon as they’re not appropriate for the highway stays a key concern amongst skeptics. A response to those issues is at present being demonstrated in California by B2U Storage Options Inc, a Los Angeles-based startup that’s utilizing second-hand EV batteries as power storage methods that may assist the grid.
B2U famous that its use of old EV batteries can considerably decrease the price of carbon-free power storage. The corporate additionally famous that to date, it has 25 MWh of storage capability tied to a photo voltaic power website in Lancaster, California. The battery storage system, which consists of 1,300 previous electrical automotive batteries, is believed to be the primary of its variety.
The system is promising, with B2U CEO Freeman Corridor stating that the batteries earned $1 million final yr promoting energy into the wholesale power market. Corridor additionally estimates that using previous EV batteries might cut back the prices of grid-scale battery installations by about 40%. To this point, B2U’s system makes use of batteries from previous Honda and Nissan electrical automobiles, and a few are as much as eight years previous.
“Second life and re-use helps the general lifecycle be extra power environment friendly, given all of the efforts that go into making that battery. So that you’re getting most worth out of it,” Corridor instructed Reuters.
What’s particularly admirable about B2U’s expertise is that its resolution doesn’t even require previous EV batteries to be disassembled or reconfigured. The batteries themselves are related right into a climate-controlled storage pod sized like a delivery container, they usually’re used with their present casings. The batteries are managed by means of their existing onboard management software as effectively.
Electrical car chief Tesla is ramping the manufacturing of its power storage units just like the Megapack, which can be designed to assist the grid. Within the firm’s This autumn and FY 2022 Replace Letter, Tesla famous that it was in a position to deploy 6.5 GWh of power storage in 2022, the best it has achieved thus far. However regardless of this, Tesla can not usher in sustainability alone, so firms like B2U might present a well-needed enhance that would additional speed up the expansion of the power storage market.
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