When Cars Eat Each Other: Old EV Batteries Will Power Ford Factory

Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant is about to become the scene of a major experiment in car cannibalization. A new 500-kilowatt solar installation has just gone online, and the project includes a 50-kilowatt-hour facility demonstrating the potential for used electric vehicle batteries in energy storage. If the system proves viable, it will provide the basis for expanding solar power and installing used EV battery storage systems at other Ford plants.

Solar Energy Storage

Like wind power, solar is an intermittent energy source. In order to guarantee a steady, reliable supply, some kind of storage system is required. A nationally networked smart grid will also come into play, but storage is the name of the game. Large scale battery systems are one solution, along with a raft of other alternatives such as high tech flywheels and pumped hydropower. Energy from Ford’s new solar installation will be stored in an array of new batteries along with the used EV battery demo.

Using Old EV Batteries to Store Energy

EV batteries have a lot of life in them after they are no longer suitable for use in a vehicle. Back in 2003, Sandia National Laboratory studied the feasibility of re-using old EV batteries(pdf) for stationary energy storage and concluded that there are no “insurmountable technical barriers to the implementation of a second use scheme,” especially since there was already an established re-use market for forklift and laptop batteries, among others. The study’s authors also noted that a used battery solar energy storage system was up and running in Mexico.

The Rush is on for Re-Using EV Batteries

Duke Energy is another company experimenting with EV battery re-use, drawing data from a fleet of about 80 Think EV’s based in Indiana – a state that has become a powerful green jobs generator thanks to a statewide cooperative effort by business, government, nonprofits, and other stakeholders. That’s the kind of democratic, consensus-oriented planning that is needed to transition to a new energy future. Given the top-down trend in Michigan, it’s not clear that Ford’s plans for a solar-electric future in that state will continue to develop apace but hey, there’s always Indiana.

Image: Car battery by Andy Armstrong on flickr.com.

http://www.kengrodyfordsandiego.com HudsonHero

We need more companies thinking this way and finding viable options that are eco-aware. Moms like me want to take care of our resources but at the same time are realistic for our stretched finances. Bravo to companies who are being innovative.

By the way, love your post title- best title I’ve read all week.

Tina Casey

Hey HudsonHero thanks for your comment – and the compliment. Part of the thinking going into EV battery re-use is that manufacturers and/or consumers can recover some energy-value from the battery after it is no longer useful in a vehicle, which would help to reduce their cost.

http://www.hplaptopbatteries.net CQ42 Battery

It is becoming to be a necessity to reuse the old stuff instead of making a new one.
http://ellidavis.com Elli D.

This should be the way how to treat the old things from now on. It is certainly good idea. It is becoming to be a necessity to reuse the old stuff instead of making a new one. The consumption is no longer sustainable advantage of civilized countries. To mitigate the impact of human’s activities on the Nature is the way we should go further.
http://www.yesonsolar.com fireofenergy

How silly, like that might actually power 1/10th of 1/10th of 1/10th of 1/10th of a percent of NOWHEREVILLE!