EV Batteries Are Outlasting the Car

Last Updated on: 30th May 2025, 12:29 am

“Saying that EV batteries will end up in landfill is a lie. Even if someone took an electric vehicle battery to the tip, someone else would grab it and sell it. They are too valuable and useful to go into landfill.” So says engineer Francisco Shi. You might remember him from this article. Or this one. “Just by using batteries for energy storage you can turn every grid connection into passive income.”

So, when he contacted me about his latest project, I popped out to his workshop to check it out. Francisco has built a mini power plant using batteries from wrecked Teslas and BYDs. He says he prefers the BYD batteries because they are easily stackable. BYD batteries are easier to use. For the Tesla batteries, he has to build a frame because the edge is thinner and they have a hump. As well as proving that the batteries-to-landfill FUD is a lie, Francisco is demonstrating that they are safe in a crash and have a practical second life use. He is making money, supporting the grid.

It all started when the government contacted a waste management company, and they in turn subcontracted to Francisco. He was tasked with developing a system that would enable the batteries to be fully discharged so they could be shredded safely. The project evolved when all concerned realised that the batteries were far more valuable left whole.

Francisco’s factory is in a post-industrialised area with lots of empty rooftop space and underutilised transformers. “One benefit of doing this is there is no need for infrastructure spending. Just install the batteries in industrial buildings with big grid connections. Just in our street there are 3 transformers that are underutilised. The factories are closed. If on top of that we covered all the roofs with solar panels, we probably won’t need too many solar farms or grid upgrades. The only drawback is power companies don’t make money,” he tells me. How will they get on when this becomes an Aussie backyard trend? “My best so far is AU$1400 in one night. My monthly average is around $1000.”

I asked about return on investment. “Depends on how much you pay for the battery. If you buy a wrecked car and sell all the useful parts, the battery is close to free. At the moment I am doing arbitrage at the factory. Our solar doesn’t make enough to cover the consumption, so I need to buy during the day, but then I get far more than what I pay when I sell it back during peak demand.” Francisco started with 20 kW of solar on the roof. So, he was initially buying power in the middle of the day when prices went negative.

Francisco now has 60 kW on the roof, with plans to double it. He wants to demonstrate the potential of batteries from wrecked EVs as a money maker. We talked amongst pallets of EV parts and cars in various stages of deconstruction. He pointed out a pallet of BYD drivetrains. “These are great for conversions and will sell on.” There is an emerging and increasing market for EV parts.

Francisco is using a hybrid inverter to get the batteries to talk to the grid. He is using an off-the-shelf inverter which has been approved for connection to the grid. Any inverter that you buy “off the shelf” has been approved — it doesn’t matter what batteries you use. The battery system has been boxed up.

He is now working on certification. His energy retailer was concerned about the activity in his workshop — not using any power during the day and yet exporting large amounts during peak hour. They send technicians around to inspect the meters — surely there was a glitch. The technicians inspected the premises and declared that all was okay. AGL may be in trouble.

The battery charges during the day from his rooftop solar, then discharges at peak in the evening. “Prices at peak may start at 22 cents but can get as high as $7 a kWh.” He says he is making a killing. My thoughts: as more people do this, there won’t be a peak hour anymore and the business case will decline. However, this appears to be many years off. If enough solar is soaked up during the day means that the prices won’t go negative, then sell into the peak when the best price is available.

Australia has recently had an election and voted in a government that has promised to subsidise home batteries. If as many people install a home battery as have solar on their roofs, it will make a significant difference to grid usage. Francisco comments: “At the moment, battery ROI means that they only break even over the life of the battery. Ten years. This will depend on battery price reductions — likely over the next 5 years. The only reason to be on the grid will be to make money by selling your solar.”

Getting back to the batteries, I was surprised at how easy it was for Francisco to obtain them and asked how many wrecks were occurring. He told me 4 or 5 a week throughout Australia. I was surprised. I couldn’t find any stats from Google, but here is a view from The Guardian: “Electric vehicles are routinely being written off after minor accidents, as a shortage of skilled mechanics and parts, as well as outdated laws, leads Australian insurers to scrap EVs prematurely instead of repairing them.” Some can still drive, as Francisco demonstrates here. And it is not just EVs — many petrol cars are written off because it was the cheaper option. Francisco pointed out that if an insurance company has to provide a rental car for a length of time, it is cheaper to write off the damaged vehicle and move on.

Of the 15–20 cars Francisco has purchased, only two had damaged batteries. The accidents had not caused any fires. One had been driven over a traffic island and cracked the coolant manifold when it hit bottom. The coolant leaked out; the car got written off. Francisco pulled the battery pack apart and cleaned it up. When reassembled, the battery still works.

Francisco adds: “If anything goes wrong with your EV battery, you can buy a battery from a wrecker and swap it over — quicker than doing a clutch. And prices are still coming down.” I would caution that you really need to know what you are doing. Ignorance is a killer.

Francisco tells me: “Some cars are written off because assessors don’t know they are repairable. The blue BYD could have been repaired for AU$2000–3,000 but it is a statutory write-off.” Ignorance is also expensive. Francisco is seeing more statutory write-offs of all types of cars. “Some are even being sent overseas.”

The waste management company referred to above started with Li-ion batteries from mobile phones, laptops, garden equipment, etc. But they found these were loss making. As they moved to electric vehicle batteries, they expected to make a profit. With an EV battery, the labour cost is less per kilogram, plus the case is also recyclable, unlike plastic-encased smaller appliance batteries. EV batteries are approximately 400 kg.

The EV batteries needed to be fully discharged before they could be recycled. Franciso was contracted to come up with a system to discharge them. During the testing process, they discovered that they could make more money by keeping the battery whole. There is still a shortage of EV batteries, with small numbers of EVs on the road. Francisco postulates that the “batteries may outlast the car (say ten years) and then function effectively in second use applications for another ten years. Not much point building a factory to recycle batteries that won’t get much use for 20 years. Even batteries supposed to be shredded can get reused.”

Francisco is fine tuning his arbitrage activity. There are a few factors to consider. Even when prices go negative during the midday solar duck, he has to pay network charges. Hence the aim to double his solar. When importing power, even if the price is negative, for example minus 2c a kWh, he still has to pay an 8 cents network charge, so the power costs 6 cents a kWh. The network charge is what pays for the poles and wires.

He tells me that yesterday he sold too much power from his battery setup and today being very cloudy, with a touch of rain, he has to import power from the grid. I noticed that he now has two more EV batteries to add to his mini power station, one Tesla and one BYD. He believes that the system used by Amber will be the future. But that might be another article.

As I was leaving his workshop, Francisco points out a wrecked grey BYD. It had been involved in a head on collision but you can still drive it. The car was labelled a statutory write off – even if repaired, it cannot be registered. “If you had this accident in a petrol car you would be walking home. EVs are more reliable,” he tells me.

And, yes, Francisco is still keen on converting EVs to one-pedal driving. His latest project is retrofitting a BYD Shark — stay tuned. EV batteries are making their way into second-life use and dispelling myths about battery longevity and fire safety. For those with the vision and skills, the future is bright, electric, and profitable.