Another car manufacturer will use used batteries to power the plant. Now Mitsubishi

It is generally accepted that "used" batteries from electric vehicles are disassembled and taken away somewhere in the Far East in order to cover (= garbage) there with some unfortunate people. Hardly anyone realizes that these "used" batteries are not depleted at all and are too valuable to end up in a landfill.

What happens to used lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles

For many, “used” batteries are batteries that can no longer power phones, toys, or lamps. Spending. Meanwhile in electric vehicles, "used" batteries are those capable of being charged to about 70 percent of factory capacity.... From an automotive standpoint, their usefulness is greatly reduced, the performance of the vehicle is poorer, and the range is reduced.

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However, such batteries, which from the point of view of the car are "used", can be used as energy storage to live the next few decades. BMW has already decided to do something similar, using wind turbines to generate power for the BMW i3 factory. Between the windmills and the plant there is an intermediary - an energy storage device built from BMW i3 batteries.

It absorbs energy when it is in excess and returns it when needed:

Mitsubishi wants to follow the same path at the Okazaki plant. Photovoltaic panels will be installed on the roof, from which energy will be supplied to an energy storage unit with a capacity of 1 MWh. The warehouse will be built on the basis of "used" Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV batteries.

Its main task will be to ensure the safety of the plant in the event of an extremely high demand for electricity. In addition, it will provide power to electrical installations in emergency situations, for example, in the event of a complete power outage. Mitsubishi estimates that using the entire system will cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 1 ton per year.

To sum up: used lithium-ion batteries from electricians are a very valuable resource, even if their performance has deteriorated. Throwing them away is like throwing away a phone because "the case is ugly and scratched."

Opening image: Outlander assembly line at Okazaki plant (c) Mitsubishi plant

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