Relectrify gives second life to EV batteries

Melbourne battery control technology company Relectrify today announced the release of its commercial & industrial (C&I) energy storage systems based on its BMS+Inverter technology.

The modular 120kWh systems are made from second-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries – cells that have been retired after use in electric vehicles.

Relectrify’s life-extending BMS+Inverter technology results in up to 30 per cent increased battery lifetime at 30 per cent lower cost of electronics.

The initial product rollout, supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), is designed for installations in the 120kWh to 2MWh range.

The company’s BMS+Inverter utilises a cell-level battery management system (BMS) to generate a high-efficiency AC output directly from the battery pack, avoiding the need for costly standalone inverters.

The solution has been demonstrated in numerous industrial and grid customer installations around the world, including with major US utility American Electric Power and Nissan North America.

Relectrify’s CEO Valentin Muenzel said: “The storage market needs affordable battery storage, and we are thrilled to achieve this market-leading competitiveness with this product from the get-go.

“With Relectrify’s cell-level technology seeing increasingly widespread use, we look forward to working with industry leaders to co-develop future products using second-life or new batteries, including for residential, commercial, industrial and grid applications.”

Released in response to wide customer demand for sustainable storage products, the initial production run is for 2.4MWh’s of storage, reusing 180 Nissan Leaf batteries.

Relectrify was founded in 2015 and incubated by startup incubator MAP.

ARENA supported an early capital raising and the Victorian government, Selectronic, IBM Research and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation supported development.

Relectrify’s strategic partners include US manufacturer, Dynamic Manufacturing.

Picture: Relectrify

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