A startup called Allye Energy is teaming up with Jaguar Land Rover to reuse old car batteries to create a new power storage project: the Allye Max battery energy storage system, or BESS.
The product utilizes seven previously used plug-in-hybrid-electric vehicle (PHEV) battery packs from Range Rover and Range Rover Sport vehicles. Electrek noted that when car batteries drop below 80% operational capacity as they degrade over time, they can work substantially less effectively. In projects such as the BESS, however, the lowered capacity barely registers.
This means that once a battery is no longer suitable for use in a vehicle, it may still enjoy a lengthy second life within the BESS, which can then be used to provide power to construction job site infrastructure and tools, including portable office trailers and mini excavators.
"The average Diesel generator would typically use 16L of fuel per hour, equivalent to a daily total of 129.12kg of CO2 for three hours' usage," Jaguar Land Rover noted, according to Electrek. "JLR's Engineering team will use the BESS to power over 1000 hours of testing, saving more than 15,494kg of CO2 during the course of a year — equivalent to one passenger taking seven round-trip flights from London to New York."
"We are delighted to be working with Allye Energy on this next generation sustainability project that will help demonstrate the potential of our circular supply chain ambitions," JLR sustainable industrial operations director Reuben Chorley said. "Developing second-life battery projects like this is crucial if we want to make sustainability real in JLR and drive us towards achieving our carbon net zero target by 2039."
Such systems are a considerable win for the environment, as they keep car batteries out of landfills and increase the lifespan of the expensive materials used in their construction.
Other companies are similarly reusing batteries, including B2U Storage Solutions, which is using old Honda and Nissan batteries to help store solar energy for California's power grid. Nissan itself is also using old Leaf batteries as portable power sources for emergency situations, and former Lamborghini employees have founded a startup in North Carolina to use old EV batteries to store energy for other purposes.
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