Relectricity revives car batteries to offer future-proofed energy storage

Australia – Australian tech company Relectrify has received an investment of AU$ 1.5 million (US$ 1.17 million) from the government’s Clean Energy Innovation Fund and two private parties so that it can expand its advanced repurposing of used batteries from electric cars. These discarded batteries will ultimately provide ‘an affordable plug-and-play solution’ for storing solar energy and may also act as a power back-up.

In 2015, Relectrify developed an innovative control technology that reduces the cost of repurposing electric vehicle batteries while boosting performance and lifespan.

The start-up combines both power electronics hardware and battery optimisation software. The new investment will enable the company to prepare for an expansion of production and commercial trials on second-life batteries ‘with the aim of becoming a global leader’, according to ceo and founder Valentin Muenzel.

Batteries are becoming ‘a fundamental building block’ of the new energy industry and are seeing significant uptake across households, businesses and the power grid. ‘And this is just the beginning,’ Muenzel insists. ‘There is an immense need for affordable and capable storage across almost all parts of our lives now and in the future.’

An end-of-life car battery often retains as much as 80% of its storage capability and so could, in fact, be charged a further 2000 times.