Hyundai Motor, Kia, LGES Launch Used EV Battery ESS Demonstration
A consortium of five companies, including Hyundai Motor, Kia, LG Energy Solution, Hyundai Engineering, and Wonik P&E, officially launched a demonstration project to utilize used electric vehicle (EV) batteries as energy storage systems (UBESS).
Our take
Is there a business case in Korea for used EV batteries as storage at charging stations?
The business case for used EV battery storage at Korean charging stations is unproven, since a 200 kWh demonstration is only starting to test tariff savings, safety and battery performance.
The revenue tested is time-of-use tariff saving behind the meter, not grid services, so the project says little about wholesale market storage. The result turns on how battery performance holds up and whether savings cover safety and operating costs, neither yet reported.
What the source says
- The UBESS system is built with a total capacity of 200 kWh.
- The project is the first in Korea to utilize post-use battery packs from Hyundai Motor/Kia's E-GMP platform electric vehicles.
- The UBESS system will operate in conjunction with EV fast chargers.
- Electricity will be stored in the UBESS during periods of low electricity tariffs and then used to charge electric vehicles via fast chargers during high-tariff periods.
- Hyundai Motor, Kia Hyundai Motor and Kia will pursue technology verification and business model development to safely and efficiently utilize used batteries.
- LG Energy Solution LG Energy Solution will produce the UBESS using used battery packs provided by Hyundai Motor/Kia and support system performance and safety verification.
- Hyundai Engineering Hyundai Engineering will review business viability and its connection with EV charging infrastructure deployment based on its operational experience.
- Wonik P&E Wonik P&E will manage stable facility operation and technology verification, leveraging its EV charger manufacturing technology and infrastructure construction capabilities.
For investors — Merchant storage investors should not read this demonstration as evidence for grid-scale second-life storage, because it tests tariff savings at a charger.
VPP operators and aggregators should ask for the operating data before treating charger-linked batteries as an aggregatable resource.
Watch: Progress reports on the UBESS demonstration project's technical validation and economic performance, particularly regarding the viability of time-of-use arbitrage for EV charging.
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