Old Electric Car Batteries Used to Power Football Stadiums

 

Electric vehicles currently make up a small percentage of overall car sales worldwide. But 2018 saw a big jump in international sales. And the market is expected to grow quickly in coming years.

JATO Dynamics¹ researches cars and other vehicles. The company reported electric car sales rose by 74 percent in 2018. More than a million and a quarter electric cars were sold. Put another way, the company said electric car sales represented about 1.5 percent of total vehicle sales around the world.

Each of these electric vehicles will require a battery to power it – sometimes more than one. Electric car batteries become less effective over time and need to be replaced. Currently, most major auto² manufacturers guarantee good battery performance for only about eight years.

So, one American company has found an unusual way to reuse the batteries that electric vehicles are no longer using. The company, called Eaton, is a large supplier of truck parts and industrial products to businesses all over the world.

Eaton is also an energy storage company. It takes aging batteries – which it calls “second-life batteries” - from Nissan’s electric Leaf vehicles. The company then reuses them with its xStorage product, which stores power in buildings.

An official with Eaton recently told Reuters news agency the company is now in talks with several European football teams. They are discussing using electric batteries to help power their stadiums.

Eaton has already equipped a major stadium in the Netherlands with such a system. The project was completed at Johan Cruyff Arena³ in Amsterdam. The stadium holds about 54,000 people and is home to the country’s Ajax football team, one of Europe’s best known. It also holds large concerts and other major events.

The company also recently completed an energy storage system at Norway’s Bislett stadium in Oslo. This stadium is partly powered by solar energy.

“The football stadium community is interested," Eaton vice⁴ president Craig McDonnell told Reuters. "From significant ones, (we are talking) with five to six stadiums in Europe,” he said.

Eaton said its xStorage solution costs 20 percent less than a new battery. The storage system at Johan Cruyff Arena can produce a total of 3 megawatts. The company says that is enough to power several thousand homes. The system stores power gathered from 4,200 solar collectors on top of the stadium, Eaton says.

The system is designed to provide back-up power to reduce the need for diesel⁵ generators⁶, which produce pollution. It also boosts the energy system during times of high energy usage, such as during concerts. Eaton says the storage system results in a more sustainable energy method, while also creating “a circular economy for electric vehicle batteries.”

Eaton is one of several major companies attempting to develop large markets for old electric vehicle batteries. Another is German automaker BMW. It has supplied used batteries from its i3 electric vehicles to store electricity produced by wind farms.

Eaton says it expects the used battery market to grow up to 20 times by 2022. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, it estimates the possible market value could reach $2.3 billion by 2025.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

battery– n. device that produces and can store electricity

stadium – n. a large, open area with seats around it where sports games and other events take place

significant – adj. important or noticeable

sustainable – adj. able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed

1 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

2 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

3 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

6 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》