Waymo Partners with B2U for Retired Robotaxi Battery Energy Storage
Hızlı Bakış
Waymo is partnering with B2U to repurpose retired robotaxi batteries for energy storage in California and Texas, addressing the end-of-life treatment of its EV fleet.
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Waymo is addressing the end-of-life treatment for its fleet of robotaxis, which are primarily Jaguar I-Pace EVs. The company is exploring battery repurposing as an alternative to recycling.
Waymo has announced a deal with an energy storage company called B2U to use retired robotaxi batteries to serve electricity grids in California and Texas.
The deal helps answer the question of how Waymo is thinking about the end-of-life treatment of the thousands of robotaxis it has deployed around the United States. Almost all of those are currently Jaguar I-Pace EVs, though the company has recently started deploying a limited number of vans built by Chinese automaker Zeekr.
Waymo said the partnership will involve the deployment of “hundreds of megawatts of storage capacity” but did not offer any further specifics.
B2U is one of numerous companies focusing on battery repurposing rather than recycling. Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel and backed in part by Waymo’s parent company Alphabet, recently spun up its own second-life storage business using old EV batteries.
Açık Sorular
- What are the specific deployment plans for the hundreds of megawatts of storage capacity?
- What is the expected lifespan of these repurposed batteries in grid storage applications?
- What is the financial arrangement between Waymo and B2U?
- Will Waymo expand this initiative to other regions beyond California and Texas?
