How Moment Is Extending EV Battery Life With Second-Life Energy Storage

Moment’s vision appears increasingly prescient. Hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters continue to cause power outages, while surging demand from data centers is expanding the energy storage market. The company is currently working with technology companies seeking better ways to manage their power supplies, as well as customers preparing for potential outages.

Trade War Challenges and Domestic Battery Production

The ongoing trade war between the United States and China is creating challenges for Moment. Almost all battery manufacturing is rooted in China, and batteries imported into the United States face high tariffs. However, the future of some of these measures remains uncertain.

Moment expects to soon classify its recycled batteries as domestic products in both Canada and the United States, where it is building its next factory. The company also says it is the only second-life battery company to receive a key certification from UL, an independent safety-rating organization used by financiers and insurance companies to assess whether a battery system is a safe investment.

Key Indicators

• Industry: Battery reuse
• Established: 2019
• Headquarters: Vancouver, Canada
• Notable fact: The company’s bylaws include a promise never to send batteries to landfills.

Why Second-Life Batteries Matter

The world introduced 1.2 terawatt-hours of electric vehicle battery capacity last year, according to the International Energy Agency. Although EVs account for most battery use worldwide, battery storage is becoming increasingly important as a rapidly growing power technology.

Manufacturing batteries requires substantial resources. Minerals must be mined, processed, converted into finished products, and shipped—often from China—to ports around the world. When an electric vehicle reaches the end of its useful life, its battery can still retain approximately 80% of its original capacity.

Reusing EV Batteries Before Recycling

Battery recycling is an expensive process, and much of the world’s battery recycling capacity is located in China. As a result, battery materials from North America may be shipped across the ocean to be processed and have valuable minerals and metals recovered. In August, the Trump administration said this practice would be banned to help retain important materials for recycling in the United States.

Battery reuse creates a bridge between a battery’s initial application and eventual recycling. After Moment receives used battery packs, it evaluates each cell for health and safety. The company then uses data in its proprietary artificial intelligence model to estimate each cell’s remaining lifespan. Cells that have reached the end of their useful life are recycled, while the others are connected and repackaged into 20- or 40-foot steel containers.

Moment says its systems are designed to extend battery life by an additional 10 to 30 years. Reusing batteries before recycling them can reduce global warming potential, resource consumption, and impacts on human health, according to a 2023 analysis.

With millions of EV batteries expected to enter the global waste stream, Moment says its model enables it to reroute more than 2 gigawatt-hours of batteries from landfills and recycling facilities each year.

Current Applications and Limitations

Moment remains a small participant in the overall energy storage market. Since its inception, the company has introduced 11 systems. Its products were initially designed for off-grid homes, but they have more recently been introduced for grid-connected hospitals, airports, and other commercial and industrial facilities.

These facilities may need additional power or want to avoid expensive system upgrades required to support new power demands, such as electric vehicle charging stations.