![]() In the US, General Motors uses the expired batteries from its Chevrolet Volt to power its back-up data centre in Michigan.īut it’s not just commercial applications that benefit from an EV battery’s second life. In Japan, old batteries from a Nissan Leaf EV are now used to provide power to low-energy applications such as street lights and railway crossings. Most manufacturers of electric cars are looking at alternative ways to repurpose batteries. And while that is no longer enough to be considered viable for an EV, it’s more than enough to be serve as a method of power storage. Typically, this happens when the battery reaches around 70-80 per cent of its original capacity. Much like the battery in your smartphone, which degrades over time, so too the battery of an EV will reach the end of its working life at some point. However, not only can up to 98 per cent of an EV battery be recycled and turned into new batteries for electric cars (see separate sidebar), it can also be refurbished and put to use as energy storage for household and commercial applications. A common misconception about EVs is that once the battery has outlived its useful life powering your car, it becomes little more than scarp, consigned to landfill.
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