On the sidelines of the COP21 summit, Carwatt and its partners Renault, Paris City Council, BPI France, the Alès École des Mines Engineering School, and the Bobigny Business Campus are showing a converted Renault Trafic powered by second-life lithium-ion batteries recycled from Renault electric cars.
When, over time, the batteries of a Renault electric vehicle fall the performance threshold specified for their initial automotive power duty (around 75% of initial capacity), they can still provide valuable service in “second-life” applications before end-of-life disposal at a recycling centre. Experiments are already under way on power storage applications, for example.
Carwatt uses these batteries to convert used urban commercial vehicles into electric vehicles.
Electric conversion of urban commercial vehicles reduces investment levels as well as makes a concrete and immediate contribution to reducing urban pollution levels, since 94% of commercial vehicles are diesel-fueled. In 2016, Carwatt and Paris City Council will be experimenting with other Renault commercial vehicles converted to run on electricity.