Unlike the economy, battery manufacturing is growing in quick time. Besides powering our myriad [virtual] connecting devices, the EV world will be needing lots of them to [corporally] connect us. Nissan is building a huge plant in Tennessee just for its Leaf, and soon the U.S. will be a major supplier of batteries to the world along with Asia, according to business reports. In cars, batteries are planned to last for 8 to 10 years, so what then? Here’s where the concept of product stewardship comes in.
Good news. Apparently EV batteries continue to be quite useful following their lives under the hood. They still have more than half their original capacity and can have a second life in many other applications. G.M., Nissan and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are working with partners such as utility companies to put them to use. One example: 2 or 3 of them could make a “Community Energy Storage pack, and “in the smart grid of the future electric utilities would distribute thousands of these Community Energy Storage packs throughout the grid to help them manage power flow, especially during peak times or outages.”* One of these could supply several homes with electricity for a few hours. Wind or solar power could also be stored in them.
Extending their usefulness could also bring down the cost of the batteries, and the cars too. General Electric is even considering leasing batteries to electric car buyers, so we would not need to be responsible for them at all. Good idea!
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person