This US company is repurposing old EV batteries in Nevada to power AI data centres. This could solve one of AI’s biggest problems

The batteries that once powered electric cars could soon help power something entirely different: artificial intelligence. As America's AI boom drives construction of increasingly energy-hungry data centres, companies are searching for ways to secure electricity without adding even more pressure to already strained grids. One possible answer is emerging from an unlikely source retired EV battery packs that still have years of useful life left in them. A recent Forbes report by energy journalist Ken Silverstein highlights how companies are exploring second-life batteries as stationary energy storage for AI facilities. And in Nevada, the concept has already moved beyond theory.

Why throw away an EV battery that still works?

An EV battery does not necessarily become useless when it is removed from a vehicle. According to Forbes, retired packs can retain around 80 per cent of their original capacity in some cases. While an ageing battery may no longer meet the demanding requirements of an electric car, it can still be useful in a stationary system where weight and driving range are irrelevant.

For data centres, the concept is relatively straightforward. Batteries can store electricity when demand is lower and release it when demand rises, providing a buffer between a computing facility and the power grid. Linda Li, chief strategy officer at Re-Teck, told Forbes that repurposing batteries could help overcome one of the biggest barriers to building such storage systems: the cost of purchasing new batteries.

Nevada is already putting the idea to work

One of the strongest demonstrations can be found in Sparks, Nevada. In June 2025, Redwood Materials and Crusoe unveiled a microgrid combining solar generation with hundreds of repurposed EV batteries. The system provides 12 megawatts of power and 63 megawatt-hours of energy storage and was described by the companies as the world's largest second-life battery deployment. It supplies Crusoe modular data centres built for AI computing. The original facility contained about 2,000 GPUs, demonstrating that old vehicle batteries could support demanding computing workloads rather than simply small-scale backup applications.

The experiment is now getting much bigger

Perhaps more significant is what happened after the system began operating. Redwood reported in March 2026 that the microgrid had achieved 99.2 per cent operational availability. Based on those results, Redwood and Crusoe announced plans to expand from four modular data centres to 24, increasing the site's computing capacity to nearly seven times its original level. That expansion could provide an important real-world test of whether second-life battery systems can operate reliably alongside larger AI facilities.

Yesterday's EV batteries could help power tomorrow's AI

The approach will not solve America's AI electricity challenge on its own. New power generation, transmission infrastructure, grid upgrades and other forms of energy storage will still be needed. Yet there is an appealing circularity to the idea. Millions of batteries were manufactured to support the transition towards electric transport. As those packs eventually leave the road, some may not head directly for recycling. Instead, their next destination could be beside an AI data centre storing electricity and helping power another technological revolution.