Disused car batteries and solar energy - Deutsche Bahn wants to use this combination to significantly reduce electricity costs in its ICE plants. The Leipzig plant has now been equipped with a so-called second-life battery storage system made from old electric car batteries. It is a pilot project, with other plants to follow, as announced by Deutsche Bahn.
The system consists of used car batteries that are no longer powerful enough to drive electric cars. However, they can be used as storage. These modules store electricity generated by a solar system on the roof of the plant. If a particularly large amount of electricity is required for maintenance work on the trains, the storage system releases it.
