…Redwood believes that by 2030, end-of-life batteries could supply more than 50 percent of the entire energy storage market. Instead of grinding up used batteries to reclaim the critical materials inside, put them to work storing electricity. There have been many experiments done that re-purpose used EV batteries which no longer can supply enough power to meet the need for rapid acceleration in an EV but still have up to 80 percent of their original energy storage capacity available…
…Traditional energy storage systems are high density and require heavy-duty cooling. To avoid this, Redwood’s team opted for an open-air, low-density system mounted on above-ground cable trays.
Spreading packs out in the open air helps avoid the need for active refrigeration, and stripping away moving parts like fans and filters minimizes potential reliability failures. Keeping the wiring above ground and limiting the size of each modular component minimizes the need for large equipment. As Sun explained, the result is a storage system that is faster to build, easier to inspect after storms, and cheaper to keep running over time…
100 miles takes like an hour and a half. Presumably there would be an opportunity to charge (as in the hypothetical future example, the grid has been built out more).
And on road trips, it’s best to take frequent stops to stretch your legs anyway. Why should anyone need a vehicle that can go six hours without refueling/recharging?
So, the next town over is ~40 miles, keep 20 miles of range for running about town during the trip / reserve. We stretch our legs when we get there, and while 4 charge points are avaialble in that town, how reliably can we access them if we go on a crowded day? How much of our day do we want to spend worrying about getting a charge?
Meanwhile, dead dinosaurs can get our full sized pickup truck there and back 4 times between fill ups.
In some hypothetical future where charge stations are as plentiful as petrol stations, sure, 100 miles of range isn’t bad. In today’s world, by the time you’re down to 40 miles of range remaining, it’s time to find a charge point ASAP or risk needing a tow.