Jaguar Land Rover repurposes car batteries for grid power storage

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【Summary】Jaguar Land Rover plans to repurpose used car batteries to create one of the largest energy storage systems in the UK. The batteries will store excess energy from the national grid and release it during peak times. The scheme aims to power 750 homes for a day by the end of the year. The company believes that used batteries can be reused due to their high standards and residual capacity. The program has the potential for future expansion and could supply over 200 gigawatt-hours per year by 2030.

FutureCar Staff Aug 26, 2023 9:21 AM PT

Jaguar Land Rover repurposes car batteries for grid power storage

The UK's largest carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), has unveiled plans to repurpose old car batteries as a large-scale energy storage system for the national grid. The company aims to create one of the largest energy storage systems in the UK by using battery storage to hold excess power during off-peak times and releasing it back into the grid when needed.

JLR's battery scheme aims to provide enough batteries to power 750 homes for a day, equivalent to 7.5 megawatt hours of energy, by the end of this year. The company will store the batteries in containers at the Chelveston renewable energy park in Northamptonshire. There is potential for the program to expand in the future as more containers can be created to house additional used batteries from vehicles.

Electric car batteries can be reused due to their high quality and ability to meet stringent requirements. Typically, these batteries have a residual capacity of 70% to 80% when they are no longer suitable for use in electric vehicles. JLR believes that used batteries could be utilized even further in the coming years, and a 2019 McKinsey report suggests that the supply of used batteries for energy storage could exceed 200 gigawatt-hours per year by 2030, with a global value of over $30 billion.

The use of energy storage is crucial in addressing the problem of renewable electricity being generated but not being used due to grid constraints. For example, wind farms may need to power down during windy periods when there is not enough demand or when the grid cannot handle the excess energy being transferred. Energy storage systems provide a solution by storing the excess energy and releasing it when needed.

This announcement highlights the longevity of electric vehicle batteries, which often outlast the vehicles themselves. Even when no longer suitable for use in cars, these batteries can find new purposes elsewhere. Colin Walker, the head of transport at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, emphasizes that most of the metals in EV batteries can be recycled, with only 30kg lost once everything else has been recycled. In contrast, a petrol car irretrievably burns 17,000 liters of fuel by the end of its life.