In a recent announcement, EVgo has revealed that it has deployed a new fast-charging station powered by “second-life” BMW i3 battery packs in the US. The new system has been deployed by EVgo at its already-operational fast-charging station site in Union City, California, at 3960 Smith Street.

EVgo’s use of “second-life” BMW i3 battery packs for powering the new fast-charging system deployed in Union City is an outcome of the successful completion of the company’s pilot program related to the use of “second-life battery systems” of electric vehicles (EVs) for powering stationary energy storage projects. EVgo ran the pilot program at University of California San Diego (UCSD).

At its Union City site, EVgo has already been operating two 50-kilowatt (kW) DC fast chargers since 2017 summer. To those fast chargers, EVgo has now added two “second-life” 22 kWh battery packs of BMW i3.

The two used BMWi3 battery packs, housed together as one unit, have been combined with a 30 kW inverter, to yield a 30 kW/44 kWh energy storage system which is capable of demand charge management.

In comments on EVgo’s deployment new fast-charging station powered by used BMW i3 battery packs, EVgo CEO Cathy Zoi said that the company is “pushing energy storage innovations forward in the EV space,” and added: “Our Union City station is just the start of EVgo’s work integrating advanced energy storage into our rapidly expanding fast charging network across the USA.”