For electric vehicles, even a small percentage of battery wear is extremely unpleasant. A battery that has lost some of its capacity will result in a noticeable reduction in mileage and forced frequent stops to recharge. At the same time, a worn-out battery is good for other things, such as a home backup power source.
We have already reported that Japanese companies have started reaching out to electric vehicle manufacturers with an eye to unlimited access to used car lithium-ion batteries (you can refresh your memories at this ). For now, this is not a first-priority issue, but over time, the fleet of electric vehicles will grow to such a scale that the issue of recycling and reusing batteries somewhere else besides electric vehicles will become a top priority.
Japanese Toyota, as it turned out, also has plans to cash in on the reuse of partially worn-out lithium-ion batteries. But unlike others, Toyota decided to approach the issue thoroughly.
According to news agency , Toyota Motor is preparing to launch a new ultra-compact electric vehicle with a standard battery that can be easily used at home (see photos above and below). We talked about this car in the news for . Today it turned out that this small vehicle for one or two people will have a special battery. The design of the battery will allow its simple installation into home backup power supplies, which can be done by the car owner himself. In addition, worn-out batteries can be used in electric vehicles for public use or for short-distance car sharing services.
For such unification, a battery standard will have to be developed, which Toyota Motor will do in the near future. However, it remains to be seen how battery manufacturers and equipment manufacturers will react to this standard. At least Toyota expects to supply used batteries to its partner Panasonic company. The latter has a range of products in the form of home uninterruptible power supplies and can give used batteries a second life. In fact, the new joint venture will apparently also develop a unified standard for simply replacing batteries that have lost some of their capacity.
According to the source, universal batteries will have a capacity of 8 kWh. This should be enough for three days for a family of four to provide lighting and charge smartphones. If the household has a solar battery, the life of the battery without connecting to the network can be extended. Also, the home battery can be recharged at night, when discounts are available on electricity. An interesting initiative. Will there be a result?
Source: 3dnews.ru