Power Global, in tandem with local cell manufacturers, will develop a 100 per cent made-in-India electric battery module
With an aim to reinvent the lifecycle of lithium-ion batteries, clean energy and mobility products firm Power Global has signed pacts with stationary storage integrator PositivEnergy and battery recycling processor Redivivus.
The California-headquartered company, which launched its first mass market product eZee earlier this month, has an R&D lab and battery manufacturing facility in Pasadena (California).
The lab will focus on new product innovation for electric vehicles and stationary applications, the company said in a statement.
Pankaj Dubey, the CEO of Power Global’s India subsidiary, said, “Despite the significant benefits lithium-ion batteries have over incumbent energy sources like internal combustion engines (ICE) or lead-acid, there are key gaps in the supply chain – namely lifecycle and recycling – that are only now being addressed in the early markets in developed nations. Our goal was to bake those aspects into our strategy from the beginning so that countries like India, which are now on the path to electrification, have a chance to leapfrog those challenges and advance quickly and more sustainably.”
In regions like India, most-electrified three-wheelers are powered by lead-acid batteries or lithium-ion batteries imported from China, the company said.
To support India”s in-country battery manufacturing capabilities, Power Global, in tandem with local cell manufacturers, will develop a 100 per cent made-in-India electric battery module, it said.
The statement added these battery modules are central to Power Global”s energy-as-a-service (EaaS) programme, which will provide battery swap kiosks at select locations throughout India and allow Power Global to oversee the battery lifecycle from application to second life.
Power Global’s partnership with PositivEnergy will help develop stationary storage solutions that support projected grid demand from electrification and enable the renewable energy transition in diverse global markets. The stationary storage solution is expected to have a life of 15 to 20 years.
The full solution will be integrated by PositivEnergy and backed by their bankable performance guarantee, PositivCare, reducing the barriers to entry for renewable energy adoption in all markets, said the statement.
Power Global CEO and founder Porter Harris said, “By applying the lessons learned from developing energy storage solutions over the last few decades, and creating strategic partnerships with industry innovators, we”re better equipped in the long run to mindfully and responsibly create a sustainable and circular battery value chain.”
Once Power Global”s EV and stationary storage battery modules ultimately reach their end-of-life, Redivivus will cost-effectively reclaim up to 92 per cent of materials while re-circulating and reprocessing chemical reagents for direct reuse in the recycling process, according to the statement.
Current lithium-ion battery recycling processes require high-temperature melting-and-extraction or single-use chemical processes, generating a significant waste stream, it said.
