An Indian start-up has developed a prototype energy storage system using recycled lithium batteries from electric vehicles.
Totus Power has field trailed a prototype/proof of concept in India, but remains 12 months and $350,000 away from doing a pilot with a pre-production prototype.
The company can take a used EV module, connect it to its own battery management system and charge an ESS from a solar or a plug-in power source.
It can be used to replace lead-acid batteries or fossil fuel energy generation, said Siva (Shiv) Rajendran, founder and CEO of Totus Power
He told BBB the company has all the infrastructure/relationships to make up to 5,000 units a year.
The company is currently sourcing end-of-life batteries from an unnamed ‘large’ automaker’s ‘most popular EV model’.
Rajendran said: “The deal is in the works, hence I can’t share the name yet. This is already a large supply pool, which we will take a few years to fully utilise. Conservatively, we can make 10,000 units a year – if not more.
“It seems very simple to manufacture a EV battery down to a Totus Power product.
“The Modules are the building blocks of a EV battery and is shipped in boxes to us by the automaker directly. We already pre decide what level of quality these used modules are, i.e SOH%).
“Some of our knowledge is in correlating this SOH% to real world life, along with the supply chain and associated shipping and recycling regulations.
“But they say the devil is in the details: So over the next 12 months, when we start writing our assembly/manufacturing procedures, I will have a better handle on what ‘simple to manufacture’ actually means.”
However, because the firm is mainly self-funded and has only secured a few grants to date, its speed of execution is dependent on more cash becoming available.