Skip to main content

EVgo adds second-life batteries to fast-charging system

EVgo has added second-life BMW i3 batteries to its Union City fast-charging station in California to store energy during peak solar hours and reduce strain on the grid. This energy is then used to deliver a fast charge to EVgo customers’ electric vehicles during periods of high demand. The second-life battery system integrates two BMW i3 battery packs into a single housing. Evgo says each battery pack has a capacity of 22 kWh which combines with a 30 kW inverter to offer a 30 kW/44 kWh energy storag
July 18, 2018 Read time: 1 min
EVgo has added second-life BMW i3 batteries to its Union City fast-charging station in California to store energy during peak solar hours and reduce strain on the grid. This energy is then used to deliver a fast charge to EVgo customers’ electric vehicles during periods of high demand.


The second-life battery system integrates two BMW i3 battery packs into a single housing.

Evgo says each battery pack has a capacity of 22 kWh which combines with a 30 kW inverter to offer a 30 kW/44 kWh energy storage system.

Princeton Power Systems provided the inverter hardware and integrated it with the battery packs. Meanwhile, technology company Kisensum developed software controls for the battery system and managed software integration.

The EVgo Union City site began operating earlier this summer and currently has two 50 kW DC fast chargers.

Related Content

  • Microgrids & the new power generation
    August 31, 2021
    Public transportation agencies are turning to microgrids to provide critical resilience in the event of local and regional power interruptions. Gordon Feller looks at projects in Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts
  • Cost Benefit: a roundabout way of lighting
    October 20, 2022
    One of Europe’s first smart lighting systems specifically for roundabouts is operating in Hungary and making big energy savings for local government, explains Miklós Muranyi of NIF
  • Tritium opens mobility centres in Australia and Netherlands
    May 10, 2019
    Tritium has opened two R&D electric mobility innovation centres in Australia and the Netherlands. The Tritium e-mobility centre in Brisbane serves as an expansion of the company’s headquarters and will be used to develop disruptive technologies for electric vehicles (EVs). A portion of Electric Power Research Institute's $3.2m package, issued by the US Department of Energy, will be used to develop an extreme fast-charging system which is expected to add 475km of range to an EV in 10 minutes. Last
  • Project to develop inductive charging for EVs
    April 25, 2012
    Volvo Car Corporation is participating in an inductive charging project. Together with Belgian technological and development specialists Flanders' Drive and others, Volvo is developing systems and methods that need neither power sockets nor charging cables. With inductive charging, energy is transferred wirelessly to the car's battery via a charging plate buried in the road surface.