What do you do with electric vehicle batteries once they’ve been diminished to the point that they should (possibly) be replaced? Possibly use them for/as energy storage systems? What about reusing them for other electric vehicle applications?
That’s the thinking behind a showcase being put on by Carwatt and its partners (Renault, Paris City Council, BPI France, the Alès École des Mines Engineering School, and the Bobigny Business Campus) as an accompaniment to the ongoing COP21 climate summit in Paris. The showcase is running from December 2nd till December 9th in the Solutions Gallery in Le Bourget near Paris.
The showcase is of an electric Renault Trafic prototype that is powered with second-life lithium-ion batteries recycled from Renault’s various electric vehicle (EV) offerings.
Here’s more via a recent press release:
When, over time, the batteries of a Renault electric vehicle fall the performance threshold specified for their initial automotive power duty (around 75% of initial capacity), they can still provide valuable service in “second-life” applications before end-of-life disposal at a recycling centre. Experiments are already under way on power storage applications, for example.
Carwatt develops innovative applications for using these batteries to convert used urban commercial vehicles into electric vehicles. In giving a second automotive life to these batteries, Carwatt provides a good illustration of the founding principles of the circular economy, in that the whole-lifecycle battery value is optimized through successive usages.
Carwatt and the Paris City Council will be trialling the conversion of various Renault commercial vehicles to run on electricity in 2016, reportedly.