How old electric car batteries could power the future globalnews.ca

In a warehouse in Port Coquitlam, B.C., lies a large, blue metal box that could help save Canada’s energy grid and prevent people from suffering exorbitant electricity bills.

It is an energy storage device that its makers, Moment Energy, are calling “Flora”. What makes this unit special is what’s inside. Powering it are retired batteries that are no longer sufficient for the high-speed acceleration of electric vehicles, but still have plenty of life left in them.

“After reaching the end of life of these EV batteries, they have 80 percent capacity left. This makes them perfect for stationary energy storage applications,” said Gurmesh Sidhu, one of the co-founders of Moment Energy.

A Vancouver-based start-up is using scrap from the electric car revolution to power factories, neighborhoods and charging stations.

Think of the device as a giant rechargeable battery; It can store energy from the grid or renewable systems such as solar panels, and then act as a power source when needed.

The four founders of Moment Energy, Edward Chiang, Gabriel Soares, Sumreen Rattan and Sidhu, came up with the idea while they were studying engineering at Simon Fraser University. During a project where he was tasked with building an electric race car, he realized that the transition to EVs would create a battery draining problem.

“As we did more research, we realized there was a business opportunity here,” says Ratan.

Moment Energy is testing its Flora prototype in various environments and collecting data; It is being used to replace diesel-fuelled generators in remote areas and to store renewable energy from solar and wind farms.

Most recently, he teamed up with Hydro Ottawa to see if the device could supplement electricity in suburbs where EV adoption is affecting local grid supply.

“By adding a battery, we can charge it during low-power times that would normally be unused power, and use the battery to provide extra power to these sites during the evening when they’re charging all these electric vehicles.” Stay,” Sidhu said.

Canadian towns and cities need more energy storage – and fast. The country’s energy demand is expected to increase by 50 percent over the next decade, as more cars and businesses electrify, Recently got a RBC report.

The federal government has set an ambitious mandatory target for all new cars sold to be zero-emissions by 2035, progressing faster than the US and many European countries.

“It’s going to completely change how our electrical grid really works at the city level,” said Evan Pivnik, program manager for Clean Energy Canada. Think tank focused on climate and energy transition.

According to the same report, Ontario, the country’s most populous province, could see power shortages by 2026. This can cause personal and business electric bills to balloon.

Moment Energy’s Flora System could be a part of the solution. The unit is designed for commercial use to help businesses become “energy independent,” Rattan said.

More EVs on the road also means more retired batteries that can serve a second function. The average electric car battery is expected to last between 10 and 20 years, longer than expected.

“The battery lasts a lot longer than the car itself,” said Steve Fletcher of Automotive Recyclers of Canada. Modern EVs were mass-produced about a decade ago, and Fletcher said auto recyclers are seeing those vehicles right now.

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“We’re seeing enough of them that it’s more of a trickle,” he said.

At some point, due to performance issues or time, all EV batteries will need to be replaced. But they are too valuable to be thrown away. One option is to recycle them, which would put the precious minerals in batteries back into the supply chain. But new research suggests that reuse is another viable route.

“We believe in utilizing resources to their full potential. There is so much life left in them that it would be pointless not to reuse them,” said Ratan.

EV batteries are expensive and resource intensive to make. Therefore, like the robust auto parts market that exists today, a new industry is taking shape around the second-life use of these batteries.

Entrepreneurs and carmakers are developing creative ways to extend the life of old EV batteries. Nissan Uses Its Old LEAF Batteries power streetlights in Japan. General Motors has retrofitted Chevrolet Volt batteries to be able to supply homes with backup power. In the US, B2U Storage Solutions is using EV batteries from a California solar farm to store excess electricity.

In Canada, Montreal-based start-up EVB360 is repurposing LEAF and Volt batteries to create energy storage devices that can be used in off-grid situations.

Martin Maynard, vice president of operations and supply at EVB360, said he would like to see the technology used in developing countries where communities lack access to electricity.

“That’s where people in the world need energy the most,” he said. “By providing clean and sustainable energy to communities, they will be able to thrive.”

Maynard said they are testing a prototype with an existing solar panel system in Dakar, Senegal.

Finding new uses for spent EV batteries reduces their overall emissions by extending their life. Cornell University researchers found that The carbon footprint of these batteries can be reduced by up to 17 percent if they are reused before recycling.

Reuse can also reduce the cost of energy storage devices. In 2025, second-life batteries could be 30 to 70 percent less expensive than new ones. a report From the consulting firm McKinsey. But as battery manufacturing accelerates, the cost savings could drop to 25 percent by 2040.

Based on its own market analysis, Moment Energy says its device is 25 percent cheaper than other commercial storage devices.

A unit of the EVB360 will retail for CAD$10,000 to $12,000, which Maynard said is cheaper than energy storage units that use the new battery. Their equipment can be used as supplemental power for individual residences.

Both EVB360 and Moment Energy are currently seeking certification for their new technology so that it can be sold directly to customers. Batteries are, after all, flammable items.

This is an emerging area with significant potential, but more research is needed to assess how quickly batteries degrade in reused applications. Based on test data, Moment Energy estimates their device will last seven to 10 years.

“We’re assuming at least seven years, but it could be much longer than that,” Rattan said. “We have a seven-year warranty.”

Moment Energy sources its batteries directly from car manufacturers. They then test each module to make sure it is safe and reliable before adding it to one of their Flora devices.

Because the technology is so new, little real-world data exists to support claims that these refurbished batteries will last long enough to compete with new units and the recycling industry.

“The economics of second life will need to exceed the economics of recycling,” Pivnik said. “It’s going to be a competitive space.”

Evolving battery technology may also hinder the field of reuse. Lithium-ion batteries are the favorite for cars today, but automakers already are experimenting With solid state like other chemicals.

All innovation comes with uncertainty at first. Where we are with electric vehicle technology is comparable to the combustion-engine car of the 1920s and 1930s, Pivnik said.

“There’s still a lot of innovation out there.”