…Redwood believes that by 2030, end-of-life batteries could supply more than 50 percent of the entire energy storage market. Instead of grinding up used batteries to reclaim the critical materials inside, put them to work storing electricity. There have been many experiments done that re-purpose used EV batteries which no longer can supply enough power to meet the need for rapid acceleration in an EV but still have up to 80 percent of their original energy storage capacity available…
…Traditional energy storage systems are high density and require heavy-duty cooling. To avoid this, Redwood’s team opted for an open-air, low-density system mounted on above-ground cable trays.
Spreading packs out in the open air helps avoid the need for active refrigeration, and stripping away moving parts like fans and filters minimizes potential reliability failures. Keeping the wiring above ground and limiting the size of each modular component minimizes the need for large equipment. As Sun explained, the result is a storage system that is faster to build, easier to inspect after storms, and cheaper to keep running over time…
Nissan proposed to make a street lamp with a used car battery module in the base, so each lamp can hold 10 kWh distributed neatly all around the city
Nice, especially with a solar panel at the top. But street lamps near roads are prone to accidents, and I’m sure a big block of Li-Ion in the base would make these way more risky.
The idea is not bad, but also a testament to the batteries problem. The current technology in them dies too fast if this could be a viable solution.
Nice for the current state of reality, but hopefully batteries are better in the future.
It would be super easy to make it modular so the batteries can be swapped when they reach end of life. A well maintained lithium cell can last decades though if it is charged and discharged at relatively low rate.
It’s different use cases - you can’t handle an EV battery that only lets you accelerate 0-60 in 89 seconds, but that same EV battery can power the street lamp and similar loads for weeks between charges without trouble.
No, it’s also that use case.
80% battery life is still not optimal for any EV with current range.
That’s an illogical and likely outdated perspective on battery capacity. I voluntarily charge my battery to 80%, both to prolong its life and because 80% is more than enough to meet my driving needs with only one charge per week. I also get a faster charge due to the taper of the power curve.
80% for me is 400 km / 248 miles of range, or 57 km / 35 miles per day. My commute to work is twelve miles each way.
If my battery drops to 80% capacity over a decade, it won’t affect me. I’d still have plenty of overhead with 400 km / 248 miles between charges.
What car is that?
Hyundai Ioniq 5
“Optimal” in what way? On an average day, I use ~10-15% of my max charge, with a max range of ~200 miles, +/- a bit depending on outside temperatures. I actually have the “hilltop reserve” feature turned on so I have regen brakes available always, which stops charging at 87%.
Most people do not need their full charge capacity, it’s just nice to have for the occasional road trip. With improved charging networks, ~100 mile range would he plenty for the vast majority of people for the vast majority of days.
Depends on where you live, what you do… while it’s true that a back and forth to work and the market car is fine with 100 miles of range, that’s a lot of garage space to take up for a car that can’t get you to the next town and back on a weekend.
Hyperbolic much?
It’s hilarious how every EV thread on the Internet always has one person who is like “well I can’t set a land speed record for my daily trip to the one taco bell I like which is 376 miles away because my chalupas will get cold if I have to charge for 20 minutes.”
Meanwhile everyone who actually owns an EV is like “yeah it really isn’t a big deal, I get 400 mile chalupas all the time”
100 miles takes like an hour and a half. Presumably there would be an opportunity to charge (as in the hypothetical future example, the grid has been built out more).
And on road trips, it’s best to take frequent stops to stretch your legs anyway. Why should anyone need a vehicle that can go six hours without refueling/recharging?
So, the next town over is ~40 miles, keep 20 miles of range for running about town during the trip / reserve. We stretch our legs when we get there, and while 4 charge points are avaialble in that town, how reliably can we access them if we go on a crowded day? How much of our day do we want to spend worrying about getting a charge?
Meanwhile, dead dinosaurs can get our full sized pickup truck there and back 4 times between fill ups.
In some hypothetical future where charge stations are as plentiful as petrol stations, sure, 100 miles of range isn’t bad. In today’s world, by the time you’re down to 40 miles of range remaining, it’s time to find a charge point ASAP or risk needing a tow.
Well you’re moving the goal posts, because this chain of comments is about “when the grid is built out more, EVs will be a viable option for more people.” So your “In today’s world” argument is irrelevant to the conversation.
Also, in today’s world, people are still capable of planning ahead to make sure they don’t run out of juice. You have to do the same with gas engines when you’re crossing the mid-west, where fuel points can be a hundred miles or more apart. People still run out of gas on their normal routes if they forget to pay attention.
EVs are currently used so sparsely that chances are the wait for a charging port is quicker than the line for gas at any highway rest stop. There’s no reason why the EV infrastructure can’t be built out more as adoption grows. It should already be being built out for future-proofing, but the fossil fuel lobby won’t stop crying about it because they don’t want people to consider EVs an option.
If you want to keep burning dead dinosaurs and accelerating global warming, no one’s stopping you. Just don’t force us to listen to you crying about it when gas is $10 a gallon and your pickup can only get you 5-10 mpg.