Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Old electric-vehicle batteries can find new purpose — on the grid

An algorithm can monitor the health of retired vehicle batteries used to store surplus power fed into the electrical grid.
This photo taken on March 12, 2021 shows a worker with car batteries at a factory for Xinwangda Electric Vehicle Battery Co. Ltd, which makes lithium batteries for electric cars and other uses, in Nanjing in China's eastern Jiangsu province.

Electric-vehicle batteries can still be useful, even after retirement. Credit: STR/AFP/Getty

Even after powering a vehicle for more than 100,000 kilometres, an electric vehicle (EV) battery can have a second life — to sustain the electric power grid1.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 629, 507 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01287-y

References

  1. Cui, X. et al. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. 5, 101941 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links