Could you reuse your EV battery in the grid? Reuters have reported on a recent surge of startups offering second-life battery packs. As the circular economy gains popularity, reusing EV batteries is becoming an attractive proposal. So much so that Mercedes and Nissan have been developing second-life batteries. It’s thought that taking batteries out of used EV’s could fill the gap in battery storage for the electrical grid.
What is second-life EV battery storage?
In principle after an EV battery is 8-10 years old and its capacity has fallen to 80%-85%, it can be repurposed to power buildings or join the electric grid. The issue with this is that it doesn’t reflect how people use their cars. The average age of fossil fuels powered cars is 12.5 years. It’s thought that when EV’s reach the mainstream users will continue to drive them for many years, depleting their batteries well below 80%.
As of now, there is almost no market for second-life batteries as EV’s from over 10 years ago are still on the road. But a market may develop in the next five years as these drivers trade in their cars. But don’t we want people to be driving their cars for as long as possible rather than getting new ones for the sake of handing over their batteries? Well, it’s cheaper to recycle EV batteries than build new ones. Sourcing them from EV’s for use in the electrical grid could offer a solution to building battery storage at scale.
Hans Eric Melin, founder of consultancy Circular Energy Storage (CES), said…
“The 80% threshold is an arbitrary number that does not reflect the real-life usage of EVs.”
“The assumption that EV batteries are only going to last eight-to-10 years and then owners will swap them out is just not true.” … “It’s going to be tricky to make second-life work.”
The Circular Economy
This would be part of the circular economy; a growing sector. It seeks to repurpose, reuse or repair materials and is seen by some as the sustainable future.
While it may be a struggle to pry the batteries away from EV drivers, it may be part of the solution to the shortfall of renewable energy storage. It’s cheaper to recycle batteries than make new ones so reusing old EV batteries could make scaling battery storage more achievable.
When the grid reaches capacity, the lack of battery storage comes into sharp relief. It’s also a problem that we don’t have enough energy stored when weather conditions don’t allow for renewable energy to be generated. In those cases many countries are forced to import fossil fuels from abroad. The UK spends £1 billion every year to turn off its wind farms when the grid is overloaded.
Second-life energy storage could be the solution. Do you think this is a promising solution or will it create new problems?
