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Toyota is recycling old EV batteries to help power Mazda's production line

(www.thedrive.com)
304 points computerliker | 1 comments | 23 Aug 25 18:29 UTC | HN request time: 0.2s | source
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pornel ◴[27 Aug 25 18:50 UTC] No.45043480[source]▶
Those who TL;DRd - it's for the factory, not the cars!

Old EV batteries are great for energy storage. A worse weight-to-capacity ratio doesn't matter for batteries sitting on the ground. A battery that holds only 70% of its original capacity is considered worn-out for EVs (and even replaced under warranty), but grid storage isn't driving anywhere, so any capacity left is still useful.

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reactordev ◴[27 Aug 25 20:41 UTC] No.45044938[source]▶
More often than not these bad cells can be removed, manufactured a new, and reinstalled. Not 100% but almost good as new.

Making your own cells is fun.

For Toyota, this is trivial and the energy storage these “left over” batteries provide, given a tinkering, is sufficient.

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Dylan16807 ◴[27 Aug 25 20:45 UTC] No.45045006[source]▶
Your own cells? Like you put together a lasagna of metal sheets and chemical goops and roll it up?
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reactordev ◴[27 Aug 25 20:54 UTC] No.45045126[source]▶
Nah, you can buy 18650 cells, nickel strips, a spot welder, and make a BMS. Build your own battery pack.
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1. bryceacc ◴[27 Aug 25 22:19 UTC] No.45046044[source]▶
that is remarkably different from building your own CELLS. You are building your own pack in whatever series and parallel configuration you want. Which i agree is fun and a good skill