Solving the challenge to electrification: why Connected Energy is uniquely placed

Ben, said: “Connected Energy has been around for 15 years, so it has established and proven technology and can now capitalise on the growing demand for energy storage,” he says. “The company’s pathway to significant growth is now highly visible due to the coming together of different demand factors.”

Along with supporting the decentralisation and decarbonisation of the grid, Connected Energy’s product also solves problems for the automotive industry.

“The best business is one that solves a problem – and Connected Energy solves several,” he says. “Critically, we help automotive OEMs to complete the circle when it comes to batteries and the circular economy.

“The obvious step between vehicle end of life and battery recycling is battery repurposing. It offers environmental benefits whilst also enabling OEMs to extract more value from these battery assets. My personal belief is that legislation will ultimately drive repurposing as an environmental imperative, but it does make commercial sense, too.”

While the recycling industry is still gearing up, it is not yet ready for the large numbers of EV batteries coming downstream. It also means that recycling lithium batteries costs money – in essence, they have a negative scrap value. “Automotive OEMs have written off the batteries at vehicle end of life,” says Ben. “So, any additional value they can extract by putting them into second life applications should be welcomed.

“Connected Energy’s expertise and the company’s long track record of working with vehicle OEMs provide a high level of reassurance. The company’s decade worth of data on second life battery performance enables us to extract accurate information and interpret that data to understand and monitor the performance of each battery. All of which are critical to safety in second life applications which is an imperative for battery owners.”

With the forthcoming implementation of the EU’s Battery Passport scheme in 2027, more responsibility will be placed on battery producers to consider circular business practices to mitigate the environmental impact of battery production. “Connected Energy has the expertise to repurpose batteries, helping OEMs to reduce their carbon footprint and adopt more circular economy principles with a ready-made solution.”

Connected Energy is based in the UK but already works globally. Ben would like to see more Government support to help retain the UK’s leading-edge position in second life energy storage.

“We are an established business with recognised, proven expertise in this field,” he says. “I would love to see Government get behind second life energy storage, and to see our PM stand up and celebrate Connected Energy as a leader in its field.”