Microgrid Data Center Re-Uses EV Batteries for Data Center Power

One of the long-term issues with electric vehicles is what to do when the batteries are no longer fit for service. Redwood Energy is one company looking to fix it by repurposing those batteries for data center energy storage. The Redwood x Crusoe modular microgrid has 12 MW of solar production, but over 63 MWh of capacity, thanks to a collection of second-life batteries that were once powering older generations of electric vehicles. They now power a modular datacenter for AI infrastructure.

According to CEO and Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, this is just the start.

Redwood Energy currently operates one of North America's largest battery recycling schemes. But instead of recycling all of them, it's begun utilizing them in new arrays that can provide impressive energy storage capacity. Many of the batteries that are pulled from EVs still offer at least half of their original capacity. While that ...