US electric vehicle maker Rivian is showing that its batteries have more to them than just driving around – it’s installed over 100 of them at its factory in Illinois to store energy. 

The EV batteries are what’s known as ‘second life’ batteries, meaning that they’ve been around the block a few times in one of the carmaker’s EVs. 

The batteries are being installed at Rivian’s Normal factory southwest of Chicago, where it builds its range of electric pickups, delivery vans and SUVs. 

Rivian has 783kW of solar panels installed over its car park, as well as a 2.8MW wind turbine on site that provide energy for the production process as well as charging up the cars once they’re built. 

The second life batteries are being installed in conjunction with energy technology firm Redwood Materials, which has developed its own energy management tech that will deploy the stored electricity at times of peak demand to ease the pressures on the local grid network. 

There are lots of initiatives underway to use second life EV batteries for energy storage purposes now that the supply of them is starting to increase. Companies offer home energy storage for houses kitted with renewable generation like solar panels, or similar projects to the Rivian one will help smooth demand for electricity. 

A notable similar project is Nissan’s work at the Johan Cruijff arena in Amsterdam, where 148 retired Nissan Leaf batteries were installed in 2018 to store solar energy generated on site and also to act as a backup in the event of grid supply failure. 

The other notable aspect of the Rivian initiative is that it’s installing its own second life batteries at its factory before the new ones have even gone on sale in the UK installed in its cars – the company’s R2 SUV is on its way here, but not until 2028. 

The Rivian R2 is on its way to the UK, but not for a little while yet. Rivian aims to make its factory carbon neutral by 2030