Having grown up in Detroit with an engineer father employed by GM, I was acutely aware of the automotive industry and the tides of production. By the time I arrived on the scene, my parents were able to purchase a new car (from GM of course) every second year, trading in the old model for new. Noticing what was different and improved over the previous car was a family pastime, but thinking about the second life of the old car did not weigh heavy on my mind.
So, I am all grown up now, not replacing my car biannually, but still watching the tides and what is going on in the car industry. What is the second and third life of today’s vehicles and what about electrics and the massive batteries secured underneath? – troublesome? or just another problem for crafty engineers to figure out?
Rivian’s new factory in Illinois is taking those tired, no longer useful for powering cars batteries and giving them a second life. Along with Redwood Materials’ new energy storage business, Rivian is taking old or —in this case, discarded EV batteries from Rivian’s own vehicles—and deploying them in a second life. Cool huh?
Read about this clever use of spent batteries and more at Global Auto Mobility or catch the companion podcast at Smart Mobility Today on your favorite streaming service. Maybe you’ll learn something too.
Cindy Polakowski
Host, Smart Mobility Today
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