How old electric car batteries could power the future
Source: Krista Hessey | · GOLOBAL NEWS · | February 5, 2023
Vancouver-area startup giving old batteries a second act
Source: A Chevrolet Volt electric car is charged through Moment Energy’s energy storage device. Darren Twiss / Global News
In a warehouse in Port Coquitlam, B.C., sits a large, blue metal box that might help save Canada’s energy grids and prevent people from suffering sky-high electricity bills.
It’s an energy storage device that its makers, Moment Energy, are calling “Flora.” What makes this unit special is what’s inside. Powering it are retired batteries that are no longer good enough for electric vehicles’ high-speed acceleration, but still have a lot of life left.
“These EV batteries have 80 percent capacity left in them once they reach end-of-life. This makes them perfect for stationary energy storage applications,” said Gurmesh Sidhu, one of the co-founders of Moment Energy.
The Vancouver-based start-up is harnessing the scraps of the electric car revolution to power factories, neighbourhoods and charging stations.