It's the question of the century whenever we talk about electric vehicles. "And then? Other than ecology, what happens to batteries?”. At times it seems that in a few years there will be a mountain of toxic material to dispose of. It is not so. Over time, new generation batteries will make disposal and recycling much easier (which already allows us to recover 90% of the materials). In the meantime, however, a battery and its usefulness may be much greater than is currently believed. It's not about lasting a lifetime, in this case: it's about lasting a SECOND life.
Already. Because obviously the most immediate answer given when someone asks how to get rid of all those old batteries to dispose of is "they will be recycled". In reality there is another practice that can precede this one, and it concerns the second life of batteries. It consists of reusing the already exhausted batteries after the first cycle (in the best case scenario, approximately 70% capacity remains). They are not enough if your electric car needs full autonomy every day, but they are enough to power storage systems or houses with solar panels on the roof!
The battery that lived twice
There is a lot of research going around on "second-life batteries". As mentioned, working on the second life of batteries has two excellent purposes. First, derive real utility from products that were created to stay around for a while. Second, give the industry time to produce something even better to populate the planet's car fleet in the now underway transition towards electric vehicles. A small report of Automotive News Europe (ANE) tells us what things can be done.
Stabilize networks
The Melilla power plant in Spain will use second-life batteries from Nissan (it is the longest-running company when it comes to electric cars, which is why it has quite a lot to offer) to stabilize the grid. A project called "MelillaSecond Life“, developed in collaboration with our Enel.
Power small electric rickshaws
India's Nunam has started a collaboration with Audi to install second-life batteries on a new fleet of electric rickshaws. The project, which should be completed in 2023, involves the rickshaws being equipped with batteries already used in the German company's E-Tron cars. Clear agreements, long range for vehicles that are not as energy intensive as a sedan.
First life in motion, second stationary life: storage facilities
After having "lived" on four wheels, second-life batteries can be useful as storage systems: the startup Moment Energy and Mercedes they used them at a Canadian resort which until yesterday burned naphtha (when we talk about ecology). When there are more widespread standards of use, having cheap systems at home that guarantee renewable energy will be very advantageous, also thanks to "second life".
Support wind farms
What BMW is doing in its Leipzig plants is textbook. There the German group uses 700 second-life accumulators obtained from its cars, and does so to store the energy produced by wind turbines. With this energy, BMW produces other cars.
Comments are closed.