Comparative safety risk and the use of repurposed EV batteries for stationary energy storage

Abstract

Electrification of the vehicle market is aiding in increasing fuel efficiencies of vehicles while lowering emissions. However, eventually the vehicle battery will reach its End-of-Life (EOL) point, usually referred to as the point when the State-of-Health (SOH) of the battery is at 80% [1]. At this point, the battery can no longer be used in its original vehicle application, and must be removed for recycling. This has been shown to be uneconomical, since the vehicle batteries still have approximately 80% of their original capacity remaining [1]. Although no longer beneficial as a vehicle battery, they can be further utilized in a different application. Repurposing battery packs, however, can be quite the undertaking with many barriers limiting their adoption. This work seeks to understand the limitations and current codes and standards that affect repurposed battery pack designs. Utilizing these requirements, a bench test setup was designed, built, and tested to determine feasibility.