Abstract :
Original equipment manufacturers (OEM) offer long-term warranties for the battery packs in their vehicles. The expectation is that once battery performance (energy storage capacity or peak power) decreases to 80%, the batteries will be replaced by the OEMs. The rationale is that a 20% reduction in the vehicle range, imposed by the decrease in performance, would be unacceptable to consumers. Based on various forecasts for market penetration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and EVs over the next 10 years, it is estimated that a large number of PHEVs and EVs will be approaching the 80% battery performance level by 2020. These batteries can be recycled or used in other less demanding applications provided that a business case can be made for their secondary use. The objective of panel session is to explore the various possible markets for the secondary use of Li-ion batteries removed from electric or hybrid electric vehicles (EVs or HEVs) after they can no longer conform to vehicle specification but still have substantial functional life. The panel will give an overview of how these after vehicle batteries could be deployed in other applications. The major focus will be dedicated to the cost competitiveness of these batteries for power grid applications. The discussions will cover current barriers, technology developments that are critical achieving price & performance characteristics, effects of adding another lifecycle to the vehicular batteries (cost, recycling, and environmental effects), supporting & enhancing micro and smart grid development, and the demonstration projects.
