Exro to repurpose evTS electric vehicle batteries
by CM Staff
The company stated that Exro's Energy Storage System can extend the retired electric vehicle batteries into a second life and demonstrates their ability to reduce both carbon emissions and rare earth material consumption.
CALGARY — Exro Technologies Inc. has a new development partnership with ev Transportation Services Inc. to repurpose batteries from evTS’ pure-electric FireFly ESV commercial utility vehicle for second-life battery energy storage applications.
The company stated that Exro’s Energy Storage System can extend the retired electric vehicle batteries into a second life and demonstrates their ability to reduce both carbon emissions and rare earth material consumption.
According to a company statement, evTS’ flagship product, the FireFly ESV, is a lightweight commercial utility vehicle that is both street-legal and highway-capable.
The FireFly ESV is built with Lithium Iron Phosphate battery technology and an advanced battery management system to improve charging and can endure up to 10 years of life, according to Exro Technologies.
At the end of its first life, the FireFly ESV LFP battery may still have remaining battery capacity, but no longer has the efficiency required for use in EV applications. These cells are ideal for a test bench demonstration of Exro’s 90kW ESS, which allows retired EV battery cells to be reused for stationary second-life energy storage applications.
“By partnering with Exro, we hope to further bolster the environmentally friendly profile of our vehicles – providing our batteries with a second-life as an energy storage system,” said Greg Horne, Chief Technology Officer at evTS in a statement.
“Our FireFly ESV will not only help to drive forward the future of last-mile delivery, as through our partnership with Exro, we will help eliminate battery disposal issues and contribute to the circular economy.”
Exro’s patented BCS is a battery management inverter combined with advanced cell control software that can expand the capabilities of batteries by enabling depth of control on the cells. In this case, Exro will pilot a test bench demonstrator that integrates its BCS technology with the FireFly ESV LFP batteries to repurpose the retired battery cells and extend them into a second life in an ESS application.
The company also stated that LFP batteries are a growing standard in electric mobility applications because of their safety and reliability advantages while improving on access to raw materials. The test bench demonstrator results are expected in Q3 of 2022.
