Audi has partnered with Nunam, a German-Indian startup that aims to use end-of-life EV batteries to make electric rickshaws in India. Moreover, it wants to use the batteries to help create a cleaner charging infrastructure for them, too.
“Car batteries are designed to last the life of the car. But even after their initial use in a vehicle, they still have a lot of their power,” said Prodip Chatterjee, Nunam’s co-founder. “For vehicles with lower range and power requirements, as well as lower overall weight, they are extremely promising. In our second-life project, we reuse batteries from electric cars in electric vehicles; you might call it electric mobility ‘lite’.”
Indeed, Nunam isn’t the first company to come up with the idea of adding electric power to rickshaws, as they’re a common sight in India. The majority, though, use lead-acid batteries,…