Synetiq, Allye to turn salvaged EV batteries into energy storage

FILE PHOTO: Marc Trent, CEO of vehicle dismantler company Charles Trent Ltd, opens up a specially-built, fire-safe container for batteries salvaged from written-off electric vehicles and hybrids in Poole, Britain, June 7, 2023. REUTERS/Nick Carey/File Photo

By Nick Carey

LONDON (Reuters) – Synetiq, the UK’s largest vehicle salvage company has partnered with Allye Energy to provide salvaged electric vehicle battery packs for the startup to use for energy storage systems, the two companies said on Monday.

Allye will test and buy EV packs from Synetiq, a unit of IAA and part of Canada’s RB Global group, to use in its 300 kilowatt hour (kWh) battery storage system – each one uses four salvaged EV battery packs – which is enough to power a factory or 50 homes for a day. Allye will lease those packs to customers.

“At the moment, these battery packs are sat around in containers, unloved and unwanted,” Allye CEO Jonathan Carrier told Reuters. “We’re trying to change that.”

Lacking access to data to assess EV battery pack damage after accidents, insurers have been forced to write off low-mileage electric cars.

As the EV battery recycling industry is in its infancy outside China, salvage companies such as Synetiq have had to house a growing number of salvaged EV battery packs in containers.

In 2022 there were an estimated 40,000 nearly new battery packs from salvaged EVs. That number will grow as EV sales rise.

Reusing entire EV battery packs “will address a key challenge in our industry,” Synetiq CEO Tom Rumboll said in a statement.

Using existing battery packs cuts CO2 emissions for the storage systems by 60% versus new ones and can cut customers’ energy bills 50% by taking energy from the grid during off-peak hours for use during peak demand, Allye’s Carrier said.

As it ramps up, Allye hopes to use 5,000 packs a year in the UK and to expand to other markets, he added.

So far, Allye has raised a little under a million pounds ($1.3 million) and is seeking additional funds.

($1 = 0.7873 pounds)

(Reporting By Nick Carey; editing by Barbara Lewis)