Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has used old EV batteries to develop a battery energy storage system (BESS) powerful enough to power the average UK household for a month.
The luxury car brand, which plans to use renewables for 25% of all of its UK energy, has teamed up with energy storage start-up Allye Energy to create the novel BESS, which can can store 270kWh of energy at full capacity.
The system uses seven second-life batteries (which have reached the end of their automotive life but still have a residual capacity of about 70-80%), taken from Range Rover and Range Rover Sport PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) battery packs.
The packs are simply removed from the vehicles and inserted into tailored racks without any additional processing.
The BESS, which is the first to use JLR’s second-life Range Rover batteries, can charge up to nine Range Rover PHEV at any one time.
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On its planned usage, JLR said it could help its network of over 3000 retailers better leverage renewable energy such as solar and act as energy buffers to support fast charging where the local grid connection may be restricted.
The unit will also be commercially available for use outside of Jaguar Land Rover, the car maker said.
It is planned that the BESS will replace diesel generators which are often used to support off-grid vehicle launches and vehicle tests in remote areas.
Jaguar Land Rover’s global renewable strategy aims to increase self-generated energy to 36.4% of its global consumption by 2030.
Last year, it was revealed the government had offered the owner of Jaguar Land Rover £500m in subsidies in an effort to persuade the carmaker to build a new electric battery plant in the UK.
