Waymo’s spent robotaxi batteries will be used as grid storage
Quick Answer
Waymo has partnered with B2U Storage Solutions to repurpose spent robotaxi batteries for grid storage, enhancing energy sustainability.
Quick Take
This initiative allows Waymo to recycle battery packs taken off the road, contributing to renewable energy solutions and reducing waste.
Key Points
- Waymo's spent robotaxi batteries will be repurposed for grid storage.
- The partnership is with B2U Storage Solutions.
- This initiative promotes energy sustainability and waste reduction.
- Recycling battery packs contributes to renewable energy solutions.
- Waymo continues to innovate in battery lifecycle management.
📖 Reader Mode
~1 min readWaymo announced a deal with an energy storage company called B2U to use retired robotaxi batteries to serve electricity grids in California and Texas.
The deal helps answer the question of how Waymo is thinking about the end-of-life treatment of the thousands of robotaxis it has deployed around the United States. Almost all of those are currently Jaguar I-Pace EVs, though the company has recently started deploying a limited number of vans built by Chinese automaker Zeekr.
Waymo said the partnership will involve the deployment of “hundreds of megawatts of storage capacity” but did not offer any further specifics.
B2U is one of numerous companies focusing on battery repurposing rather than recycling. Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel and backed in part by Waymo’s parent company Alphabet, recently spun up its own second-life storage business using old EV batteries.
— Originally published at techcrunch.com
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