As India’s EV fleet scales, retired traction batteries are becoming a significant resource. Used strategically, these packs can supply short-duration grid services, back up critical rural loads and reduce diesel dependence in microgrids.

Dynamic modelling — which factors in state-of-health (SoH), ageing trajectories, charge/discharge histories and local demand patterns — enables operators to allocate tasks such as frequency response and peak-shaving to heterogeneous packs while minimising degradation. This boosts aggregate value from repurposed batteries and lengthens useful life.

Why this matters for rural India

Rural microgrids, agricultural pumps, and community health centres face frequent outages and high costs when relying on diesel. Second-life batteries can be deployed at lower upfront cost than new systems, providing improved reliability and a circular route for battery materials.

Operational and policy hurdles

Challenges include variability across packs removed from different EV models, the need for standardised testing to establish SoH, and safe mechanical/electrical integration. Policy levers — like standard certification protocols, incentives for circular refurbishment, and traceability systems that record pack history — will be critical to scale adoption.

“A standardised SoH testing pipeline and a modular BMS that abstracts heterogeneity are the two most important enablers for safe, bankable second-life systems.”

Practical pilot design

SolSetu recommends a clustered pilot with: (1) partnership from an OEM or large fleet for retired packs, (2) a standardised forensic SoH test bench, (3) a modular BMS and inverter stack for grid services, and (4) blended financing that mitigates early-stage risk for community operators.