US energy storage company Stryten Energy has unveiled a mobile microgrid mounted to a Jeep that it says can be deployed with emergency power in remote terrain for off-grid adventures or as disaster relief to weather-impacted areas.
The hybrid diesel-electric vehicle, a modified Jeep called Reluctance, is kitted with proprietary software that can manage a variety of energy sources, both carbon-based and renewable, and effectively stores that power for use on demand during prolonged power outages.
The Jeep is fitted with a lithium battery pack and when the batteries need to be charged, the electrical software communicates to the diesel generator on the vehicle and charges the batteries for 15 minutes or so. Fully charged, the microgrid is then able to charge other batteries.
The generator can fast charge 26 Stryten Energy Li700 (NMC lithium-ion) batteries at 4C. Once charged from 20–80%, the battery pack can charge multiple battery packs. It can power an average home for three days on one charge, the company said.
It will turn itself on and off, only running when charging. Once the pack is fully charged, the Jeep will shut off. Stryten’s vice president of communications Melissa Floyd said the proof-of-concept vehicle could also be fitted with solar power generation. Stryten is showing the vehicle at CES 2025 trade show in Las Vegas in January.
Mike Judd, president and CEO of Stryten Energy, said: “We need to capture all energy produced from renewables and hydrocarbons in stationary energy storage solutions and mobile systems like Reluctance. This model facilitates the efficient collection and use of the energy we need to provide grid stability and meet the growing demand for energy driven by electrification.”
* Separately, Stryten signed a deal with Largo Clean Energy Corp to form a new company, Storion, that will make low-cost electrolyte available for vanadium redox flow batteries.
It will leverage Stryten’s proprietary reactor design and Largo’s vanadium electrolyte leasing capabilities to deliver vanadium electrolyte at less than $0.02/kWh. It said the US Department of Energy’s Long-Duration Storage Shot goal to reduce the levelised cost of storage to $0.05/kWh by the end of the decade can be accomplished today.
“This cost-effective domestic supply chain for vanadium electrolyte will position the US as a leader in this critical energy infrastructure area and provide the opportunity for rapid adoption of VRFB technology,” Stryten said.
