Had a good meeting with Dr. Curnick. Dropped off the battery for storage and testing. The facilities for testing at C-ALPS are very impressive. The charge/discharge boxes in the photos can safely test batteries and take the impact of any faults that fire or explosion. The test box run up to 200 amps, the peak load of the motor.
To talk about use of pre-owned batteries and why the tests are necessary ‘the number of automotive battery packs reaching end of life is expected to increase from thousands to tens of thousands per annum within the next 5 years. These batteries typically retain up to 80% of their original capacity and therefore remain useful for second-life applications in portable and stationary energy storage, where power and energy density requirements are less onerous. Used batteries require grading to determine their residual capacity and power delivery capability’.
Looking forward to seeing the results from the tests of the cells before they are practically deployed into the project.