Turning over an old Leaf (of the species Nissan) and reusing its batteries may be a partial answer to the shortage of lithium. The energetic metal is hard to get and often in short supply.
In several entries to come, we’ll try to find some answers to questions about sourcing battery materials, how safe we can make batteries, and what future batteries may be like.
When Weight is no Object
When you don’t need to consider weight as part of your battery needs, as in ground-based energy storage units, why bother with lithium? It’s potentially explosive, so find elements that are less so, although sometimes heavier. Or, in some uses, use all the potential from existing sources that no longer live up to their specifications. Electric cars need a change of battery packs, for instance, when their cells can manage only 80 percent or so of their original range.
One solution in Lancaster, California, B2U uses old Nissan Leaf battery packs and recently, Honda Clarity packs to store energy pulled from a solar farm on the site. The firm has since expanded the range of acceptable battery packs they can integrate into their system even further. The operation’s “trick” is to get varied types of lithium packs, already with battery management systems (BMS) of their own, to work and play well together. Clever design and programming seems to manage that, as shown below.
Freeman Hall, CEO of the Los Angeles-based company, answered questions from Clean Technica, an online source for tech news. When asked, “Which Honda vehicles were used to source the batteries?,” he responded, “The Cuyama site is deploying batteries from the Honda Clarity BEV.” B2U finds the batteries through a cooperative effort with Honda.
Second-life batteries come with the original pack casing and, “the pack’s native battery management system (BMS) software, which eliminates repurposing costs.” The Cuyama site in Santa Barbara uses 24 Honda Clarity EV batteries per cabinet. B2U assembles and tests the EPS cabinets at their plant in Lancaster, California and then ships them to project sites, which include Cuyama and nearby Palmdale.
Besides B2U’s tests, “Permitting authorities require energy storage systems to achieve UL certification.” Freeman explains, ” B2U performs all necessary testing to achieve UL9540 certification and to satisfy all permitting requirements for our projects.”
Even though there is no established market or clear pricing for used EV batteries, Freeman notes, “Pricing varies considerably. Reusing EV batteries in large scale stationary storage generates substantial value, and therefore companies like B2U can pay a significant premium over the recycling value. After utilizing the residual value, B2U and other companies that reuse EV batteries work with recyclers and OEMs to ensure all batteries are recycled.” At that, it still costs less to purchase used EV battery packs than buying new.
B2U uses Nissan Leaf, Honda batteries, and packs from Chevy Bolts, Tesla Model 3s, and Ford Focus EVs, “over 80-percent of today’s EV market.” B2U is currently working with Volvo, BYD. and other original equipment manufacturers. Freeman adds, “It’s simple, since our technology allows for the batteries to be deployed in ‘Plug and Play’ fashion in their original pack casing. Swapping out a battery from B2U’s [EV Pack Storage] EPS cabinet takes less than 15 minutes.”
B2U deploys energy storage systems (ESS) for about half the cost of new ESS. All sites employ solar recharging for the batteries, with favorable results. According to Freeman, “Over the course of a year, a single MW of PV on a single axis tracker can generate ~2,400 MWh of energy. In summer months, a single [megawatt] of [photovoltaics] (PV) can generate 10 [megawatt-hours] (MWh). The 12 MWh of battery storage can reliably be charged by the 1.56 MW of onsite PV. When needed, the system can supplement with grid charging.”
Cost comparison chart shows savings and revenue possible with use of second-life batteries
Although still composed of the materials used in most electric vehicle batteries, these packs find a second life in generating grid power. Their continued use in storing energy for homes and commercial businesses takes a load off the supply chain.
Theoretically, that should reduce demand for the high-cost items in many lithium batteries: lithium, of course, but also cobalt and nickel. Manganese seems to be less of a supply problem.
Why is this important? With the U. S. withdrawing from some climate-based alliances and forming new partnerships with potentially adversarial nations, there may be increased volatility in receiving necessary materials for domestically-made batteries. Although recent discoveries show a huge deposit of lithium on the Oregon-Nevada border, total global demand continues to grow.
We’ll look at the worldwide issues involved in sourcing new battery materials in a future entry in this series.