Ever wonder what happens to electric car battery packs when they ultimately bite the dust? Energy grid management is quickly becoming an attractive option for car battery repurposing, and BMW is tossing its hat in the ring.
BMW has initiated a new partnership to ensure that used battery packs, which still have some usable storage capacity, see some use following their removal from electric vehicles.
BMW has partnered with German engineering group Bosch and Swedish utility company Vattenfall to reuse battery packs for grid energy storage. Even after its storage capacity diminishes too much for use in a vehicle, a battery pack still possesses enough capacity for other uses.
The project, known as Second Life Batteries, will launch an energy-storage system in Hamburg, Germany. This system will benefit the energy grid by ingesting extra energy during low-demand periods. This excess energy will then be released when demand increases.
The storage system will utilize battery packs from over 100 BMW vehicles. Bosch will design and manage the system, with Vattenfall handling its operation. All three partners anticipate the system being operational by the end of the year. At BMW of Freehold, we look forward to seeing what this impressive partnership achieves!
Image: BMW
