Viability of Electric Vehicle Li-Ion Batteries for Stationary Storage Applications in the EU by 2030

Abstract

Electric vehicle batteries are not dead when they reach the end of their first useful life. Manufacturers are succeeding in bringing them back to life with three solutions: rehabilitating them, recycling them and, most importantly, reusing them in innovative applications that create significant value and encourage greater integration of renewable energy into grids. The introduction of these second-life batteries in households can lead to an improvement in energy efficiency and economic benefits for the user, as well as contributing to environmental care and sustainability.Batteries from the first generations of electric vehicles are already being tested for various purposes around the world in order to extend the knowledge in this field and pave the way for building a reliable structure for future battery deployments. Therefore, numerous car manufacturers, together with energy companies and leading electronics companies, have in recent years carried out pilot projects of possible alternatives for the second-life of batteries. To contribute to this study, this thesis presents an analysis to study the feasibility of de-ploying these second-life batteries in EU households to operate alongside the grid by 2030. The battery life prediction model provided in the article based on lithium batteries Cycle-life model for graphite LiFePO4 cells, as well as a study on the economic impact that these installations would have on users, has been necessary to obtain the preliminary findings on the economic viability. These results show a wide variety of outcomes, as they depend on household energy consumption and thus on life expectancy, which ranges from about 5 to 14 years.Although the data are not very encouraging in general, a positive trend can be observed which may lead to an improvement of the situation in the coming years and make it fea-sible for each situation.