Brief description of the organization
Precycle is developing the infrastructure needed to support a circular second-life market for electric-vehicle batteries. While internal-combustion-engine vehicles have an existing market for reselling and reusing components, electric vehicles introduce design-varying and dangerous batteries whose remaining health, safety, and value can be difficult to determine.
Precycle evaluates end-of-life EV batteries to measure their condition, performance, and suitability for reuse. Batteries that remain viable can then be redirected into less demanding energy-storage applications, including agricultural, residential, and off-grid systems. Batteries that are no longer suitable for reuse can be routed to recycling. By improving how batteries are assessed and directed at the end of their first life, Precycle helps extend the useful life of valuable energy-storage assets, reduce unnecessary recycling, and keep critical materials in the economy longer.
Problem area
End-of-life electric-vehicle batteries retain significant capacity and value, but there is currently no fast, standardized, and cost-effective way for many battery holders to determine their condition or identify an appropriate second-life use. This uncertainty can cause batteries that are still functional to be stored indefinitely or sent directly to recycling.
Students will help explore how EV battery modules can be safely connected, tested, diagnosed, and directed toward suitable second-life applications. Depending on their discipline, students may contribute to battery-testing procedures, diagnostic and routing software, development of electrical connectors and adapters, data analysis, or the design of prototype energy systems such as solar-powered agricultural irrigation.
Main objectives
Design and prototype safe, reusable hardware interfaces for connecting different EV battery modules to testing equipment.
- Develop software that collects and analyzes battery-testing data to estimate battery health, performance, and suitability for reuse.
- Establish a repeatable process for classifying and routing batteries toward appropriate second-life applications or recycling.
- Design and validate a prototype second-life energy system, such as a solar-powered irrigation or agricultural energy-storage system.
Scope of work
Review existing EV battery diagnostic methods, second-life qualification standards, electrical safety requirements, connector designs, and relevant energy-storage applications.
- Assist with controlled testing of selected end-of-life EV battery modules and organize the resulting voltage, current, temperature, capacity, and performance data.
- Design and manufacture reusable connectors, terminal adapters, enclosures, mounting systems, or test stands compatible with selected battery modules and testing equipment.
- Build a prototype platform for importing test data, calculating diagnostic indicators, displaying battery results, and recommending reuse, further testing, or recycling.
- Explore statistical or machine-learning approaches for identifying battery condition and predicting suitability for different second-life applications.
- Design and, where feasible, construct a prototype system that integrates second-life batteries with solar generation, controls, and an agricultural load such as an irrigation pump.
- Test the hardware, software, and application-system prototypes against defined performance, reliability, usability, and safety criteria.
Deliverables
- Report
- Presentation
- Resources
- New protocols/processes
- Functional hardware and/or software prototypes
- CAD and design files
- Source code
- Organized battery-testing datasets
- Validation results
- Operating documentation
Team meeting frequency
Weekly
Skills and training required
Students can contribute through a range of complementary technical and analytical skills. Coding and software-development experience will be particularly valuable, including familiarity with Python, data processing, database development, visualization, user-interface development, or machine learning. Machine-learning experience would be an asset but is not mandatory.
Additional useful skills include electrical-system design, instrumentation, electronics, mechanical design, CAD, machining, fabrication, prototyping, statistical analysis, and technical research. Previous knowledge of lithium-ion batteries, battery-management systems, renewable-energy systems, solar power, or control systems would be beneficial. Students should also be able to document their work clearly.
Resources required
Computers capable of software development, data analysis, simulation, and CAD work.
- Programming and analytical tools such as Python, Jupyter, GitHub, database software, and data-visualization or machine-learning libraries.
- CAD, electrical-design, and system-simulation software if available.
- Electronics and prototyping tools, including soldering equipment, wiring tools, connectors, fuses, contactors, relays, and protective enclosures.
- Machining and fabrication facilities for producing adapters, mounting components, test stands, and enclosures.
- Components required for the application prototype, potentially including solar panels, charge controllers, inverters or DC converters, pumps, controls, and irrigation equipment.
NDA or a commercialization agreement for this project?
Yes