Skip to main content

EVgo adds second-life batteries to charging system

EVgo has added second-life BMW i3 batteries to its Union City fast-charging station in California to help 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 22kWh which combines with a 30kW inverter to offer a 30kW/44kWh energy storage
October 15, 2018 Read time: 1 min

8881 EVgo has added second-life BMW i3 batteries to its Union City fast-charging station in California to help 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 22kWh which combines with a 30kW inverter to offer a 30kW/44kWh 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 50kW DC fast chargers.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • EV charging companies partner to expand London’s EV charging
    October 21, 2016
    ChargePoint Services and BluepointLondon are to collaborate to expand the number of electric vehicle (EV) rapid chargers across London. The companies’ respective networks, GeniePoint and Source London, will also offer full inter-operability to their respective members. They say commercial EV operators who will be able to recharge vehicles in 20-40 minutes to keep their vehicles moving throughout the working day and night. For the first phase, the two companies aim to have around 30 new rapid charger
  • Creative finance enables parking progress in LA
    March 15, 2016
    David Crawford investigates an innovative public/private partnership. Los Angeles entered the second decade of the 21st century facing major challenges to its parking operations. With a population of 3.8 million, and its car-oriented culture still predominant, the city's parking meters were technically outdated - with most only accepting coins and many regularly out of service - resulting in a substantial loss of revenue. This coincided with a number of Californian cities looking to parking income to boost
  • Tattile unveils Vega1 and the Smartaid
    March 20, 2018
    Leading Italian ITS company and machine vision specialist Tattile has unveiled two major new innovations for the global traffic and enforcement market: the Vega1 and the Smartaid. The Vega1, a dual channel camera built in an extra-compact case to reduce installation impact, is mainly targeted to single lane vehicle tracking, traffic limited areas and priority lanes, as well as surveillance and access control and congestion charge areas.
  • The 'C' word - confidence - may be holding back EV investment
    October 22, 2018
    Confidence. A little word with big implications. For example, electric vehicles (EVs) are coming in big numbers. We all know this. Falling battery costs and increasing environmental concerns are pushing the industry towards a tipping point. Figures from the latest Bloomberg New Energy Finance report suggest that there will be 30 million electric cars in the world by 2030, and that China will account for half this number before then. EVs are, governments and urban authorities tell us, A Good Thing: fewer