Electric Vehicle Batteries: This German startup has come up with an innovative way of bringing reused car batteries to life – by using them as an electricity storage system. Voltfang has won two awards for its circular economy approach, as well as the EES (Electrical Energy Storage) 2022 Award, with its idea of extending the lifecycle of batteries from electric vehicles (EES, 2021).

Founded in 2020, Voltfang, whose name literally means ‘volt catch’ or ‘catching power’, aims to repurpose used car batteries for stationary storage systems. The idea grew from the company’s recognition that once an electric car’s battery can no longer power the vehicle, after just five years, there is still more than an 80% residual capacity left in the battery itself. This huge potential got the founder of Volfang thinking of a way to harvest that power to reduce waste and close the gap in the transition towards sustainable energy.

Battery Waste

With the number of EVs expected to rise to 100 million units globally, and the government announcing the sale of petrol and diesel cars to be entirely banned by 2030, the amount of waste from car batteries is only expected to rise. Combine this with the fact that there are currently no real existing or efficient recycling options for electric vehicle batteries – and when batteries are sent to recycling centres; they are expensive. The raw materials are lost in the process.

Voltfang’s concept tackles the topic of green and sustainable energy. It addresses how to take that energy to the next level – by questioning the best way to utilize this inevitable waste from an all-electric vehicle economy. According to a study by Greenpeace, “almost 13 million tonnes of batteries from electric vehicles will reach the end of their life between 2021 and 2030. Meaning the environmental impact due to the number of critical materials – lithium, cobalt, nickel, aluminum and manganese – that will need to be disposed of, is huge – even before the governments imposed 2035 deadline for an all-electric vehicle economy” (Greenpeace, 2020).

Voltfang’s stationary storage systems are loaded with a maximum C-value of 1, compared with electric car batteries that are charged and discharged with a C-value of 3-5. The difference gives the storage systems a second life, and Voltfang offers a 10-year guarantee on the storage capacity. The system also provides independence from the electricity grid and its constantly rising costs (Voltfang, 2019).

Electric Vehicle Batteries: Circular Economies

The greener the power, the more demand there is for electricity. Natural energy solutions such as wind, water and solar power see highs and lows, making them great during optimum weather conditions but not so great when the weather is bad. Therefore, with Voltfang’s electricity storage systems, they can harness the excess energy that is already available and store it for when it is needed, thus providing clean, natural energy to homes and businesses (Startups Magazine, 2022).

Reusing batteries from electric vehicles is a massive step forward in preventing depleting already limited resources, making it an important contribution to a functioning circular economy. “The climate crisis is a Race, then we as humanity must win together. We want to raise awareness about the consumer behavior of our Society create and offer more sustainable approaches.” – Founder of Voltfang, David Oudsandji.