Connected Energy & Renault partner in second-life EV battery energy storage tech

CleanTechnica

Connected Energy and Renault are partnering together for the creation of second-life electric vehicle battery energy storage technologies, the first of which, the E-STOR technology, will be available for purchase in the UK starting in July, according to recent reports.

This first offering is a 50 kilowatt/50 kilowatt-hour (kW/kWh) product created out of old Renault electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Given the size of the battery, a number of applications are possible — including the support of EV fast charging stations in locations without direct access to high electricity supply rates.

Considering that EV batteries still possess a lot of energy storage capacity even after ending their working first-life in an EV, the partnership makes a lot of sense — why not reuse the batteries as much as possible before recycling?

Green Car Congress provides more information on the technology:

With increasing EV sales — 97,687 EVs were sold in Europe in 2015, up 48% on 2014 — so is the requirement in energy to charge them. Connected Energy is addressing both issues through use of second-life EV batteries in its E-STOR technology.

This can be used, for example, to store energy generated from on-site renewable generation resources such as solar panels and wind turbines, and then release it as needed at a later time. The system also allows the batteries to be charged via low-cost off-peak electricity tariffs, enabling users to reduce their energy costs.

The Connected Energy E-STOR EV second-life energy storage technology was named as the winner of the innovation category in the British Renewable Energy Awards 2015, last June.

Source: CleanTechnica. Reproduced with permission.