New life for batteries

Nissan will start working with a company in California’s Silicon Valley to investigate creating a market to recycle old electric-vehicle (EV) batteries to use for stationary energy storage. The first network of batteries will be deployed at a facility soon, but the marque isn’t shedding any light on where this will be. The project involves linking up multiple batteries from its EV, the Leaf, to provide power during mid-day peak-energy demand when electricity is most expensive. “A lithium-ion battery from a Leaf still holds a great deal of value as energy storage, even after it’s removed from the vehicle,” says Brad Smith, director of Nissan’s 4R Energy business in the US. “We expect to be able to reuse most battery packs in non-automotive applications.”