Technology
20. May 2025
Blog
Technology
20. May 2025
“Second-life” refers to the reuse of batteries that no longer have enough power for an electric vehicle but can still store enough energy for other applications. These batteries can be used, for example, in stationary energy storage systems and as a backup power supply.
Battery storage systems play a crucial role in the electricity grid’s stability and are therefore at the heart of the energy transition. They optimise self-consumption, reduce peak loads, and lower costs in the long term. They can also be used as pre-charging storage for electric cars to enable optimized fast charging. By using second-life batteries in storage systems, valuable resources can be saved and costs reduced.
With the increasing sales of electric vehicles, the question arises as to what happens to EV batteries when they no longer provide enough power in the electric vehicle. In second-life use, discarded batteries can continue to do their job for many years before they are properly recycled.
One challenge when using previously used batteries in storage is the different states of health of the batteries. STABL has found a solution for this: The modular multilevel inverter technology can integrate batteries with different residual capacities. STABL employees installed the technology for the first time in 2022. The storage system consists of 24 used battery modules from old KIA Soul EV batteries. Together with the project partners from encore, a corporate start-up from DB Bahnbau Gruppe GmbH, Inno2grid and Dellcon, the project was realized at the EUREF Campus in Berlin and has been on public display ever since.
Economically and ecologically, it makes a lot of sense to give EV batteries a second life as energy storage units before they are recycled. By continuing to use them as energy storage in applications such as stationary battery storage systems for solar energy, the service life of the batteries can be extended by several more years.
In addition, the integration of second-life batteries into the energy grid can be a cost-effective way of stabilising the power grid. As electricity generation from renewable energies such as wind and solar energy can fluctuate, stationary battery storage systems can help to store surplus energy and stabilize the energy supply when needed – at night, for example.
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