Researchers of the University of Warwick have found a way to use used electric car batteries as small energy storage systems for network-independent applications in developing countries or isolated municipalities. Each of the converted units has an energy capacity of approx. 2 kWh. According to researchers, this is great enough to provide a small shop, agricultural business or several residential buildings with energy.
“If the battery of an electric vehicle reaches the end of its life, it is by no means massively used up. She simply reached the end of its useful life in a vehicle. It is generally recognized that an electric car battery has reached the end of its life when its capacity drops to 80% of a new battery. This is no longer enough to satisfy the driver, but remains of great benefit for anyone who wants to use the battery in a static situation.”Professor James Marco, University of Warwick
Jaguar Land Rover supplied for the project batteries and components from the Jaguar i-Pace. The Warwick researchers designed a new battery management system and a new shell to create a slightly portable prototype as the energy storage system that includes the following:
- Standard Low-Cost components for control, communication and security functions
- The ability to use different modules that can be replaced without the entire unit needs to be recalibrated
- Simplified control system for easy integration and deployment
While such, sometimes unloaded batteries can still be very useful, there are still challenges, especially to ensure that they can be used reliably, sustainable and cost-effective on remote places. These challenges include:
- How to protect the lithium-ion cells from overcharging and discharge
- The energy storage system can be made compatible with a variety of other battery cells used and modules of other manufacturers
- How to keep costs and maintenance low
- How to create a control option that is easy to understand
The research project was part of the project funded by Innovate UK: 2nd Heven (2nd-Life Energy Storage Systems) and is supported by WMG High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult.
“This is a great result that not only offers a highly efficient reuse solution for car batteries, but could also change life in remote communities. We are now looking for support so that these new units can be further developed and tested at remote or network-resistant locations.”Professor James Marco, University of Warwick
Jaguar guarantees an efficiency of the battery of 160.000 kilometers (eight years of mileage) with a residual capacity of 70 percent. But you do not mind that the battery must be replaced afterwards.
Because even at 70 percent capacity are still 60/65 kilowatt hours for use with a 90 kilowatt hour battery. From the point of view of Ziebart still a very significant capacity, if this is compared with a battery storage for a solar system at home, which may have 10 kilowatt hours capacity.
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