Jaguar Land Rover launches second life ESS with Pramac

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced a partnership with the construction equipment and ESS company Pramac through which the companies will make smaller ESS units with used batteries from Jaguar I-Pace. The system which can host a capacity up to 125 kWh will be used in promotional events such as in Formula E World Championship where it provides auxiliary power for the racing team on the track.

Pramac is an Italian company specialised in construction equipment and generators. It is part of the US-based Generac Group which is also is involved energy storage solutions. In September Pramac acquired the British company Off Grid Energy, specialized in small to mid-sized lithium-ion battery-based power units. This is the unit which now has worked with JLR. The company has a similar partnership with BMW in which the partners have used batteries from BMW's Mini brand.

The system which can be used both as an off grid power unit and an EV charger is available for commercial hire. The units are fitted with Type 2 Electric Vehicle (EV) charge connections with dynamic control and rated at up to 22kW AC to allow electric vehicle charging.

The batteries come from Jaguar I-PACE batteries taken from prototype and engineering test vehicles. According to JLR Pramac directly reuses up to 85% of the vehicle battery within the storage unit, including modules and wiring. The remaining materials are recycled back into the supply chain.

Introduced in 2018 the I-Pace was one of the earliest premium EVs on the European and US market from a legacy car maker. The battery pack has a capacity of 90 kWh. The pack is made up of 36 individual modules with NMC 622 cells from LG Energy Solutions. It's these modules that now are used in the system.

While batteries from R&D and test vehicles are often used in projects like these the bigger potential comes from batteries that have served its full first life in the vehicles. As shown in our chart below this volume will increase over time, in 2030 our estimate is that 200 MWh of I-Pace batteries will be available for reuse in Europe which would equate to 1,600 system with 125 kWh storage capacity.

However, these batteries are not owned by JLR but belong to the owners of the vehicles. On the open European market I-Pace packs are today available for between $190 and $240 per kWh. The modules which in its design are similar to modules from other EV platforms are popular in many segments, not least for energy storage applications but also for boat and ICE vehicle conversion. For JRL to benefit from its new solution the company must therefore make sure it is the most attractive buyer of the modules.

Read more about JLR/Pramac's product here.