Used Car Batteries Can Now Create Renewable Energy Storage System

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Marquee auto major Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has joined hands with Wykes Engineering Ltd, a firm that delves in the renewable energy sector, to make a new renewable energy storage system from used car batteries.

The British multinational automobile manufacturer, through this partnership, will make among largest energy storage systems in the UK. This will be achieved by exploiting solar and wind power with the employment of second-life Jaguar I-PACE batteries.

A Wykes Engineering Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) makes use of 30 second-life I-PACE batteries. It is capable of storing up to 2.5 MWh of energy at full capacity. JLR has set sights on providing ample batteries to enable the storage of 7.5 MWh of energy cumulatively. This will be sufficient to supply power to 750 homes for a day by the conclusion of 2023. Following this, additional containers can be created for adding second-life batteries that are removed from used production vehicles in the future.

Every BESS is linked to an advanced inverter to facilitate efficiency optimization as well as energy management. It boasts of power supply directly to the National Grid during peak hours and also at the time of drawing power out of the grid in off-peak hours for storage purposes.

Together, the two firms, have achieved seamless integration. There is no need for additional manufacturing or even of battery module removal. The process is simple, whereby batteries are just removed from the Jaguar I-PACE, slotted into racks in the containers on-site.

François Dossa, Executive Director, Strategy And Sustainability at JLR said, “Our EV batteries are engineered to the highest standards and this innovative project, in collaboration with Wykes Engineering, proves they can be safely reused for energy sector application to increase renewable energy opportunities. Using the 70-80% residual capacity in EV batteries, before being recycled, demonstrates full adoption of circularity principles. Working together with industry-leading partners, we are developing a complete EV ecosystem, from batteries to charging, supporting our net-zero transformation.”

David Wykes, Managing Director Of Wykes Engineering concluded, “One of the major benefits of the system we’ve developed is that the containers are connected to the Grid in such a way that they can absorb solar energy, that could otherwise be lost when the grid reaches capacity.” He added, “This excess energy can now be stored in the second life I-PACE batteries and discharged later. This allows us to ‘overplant’ the solar park and maximise the amount of power we generate for the area of land we are using.”

Last year, Jaguar Land Rover’s engineering team worked with Pramac to develop a zero-emission energy storage unit powered by second-life Jaguar I-PACE batteries, taken from prototype and engineering test vehicles. Making better use of second life batteries has been a priority for both auto firms, and researchers, to defer the need to send the battery for recycling too early. Stationary storage uses has emerged as a key opportunity.