Title: Waymo Partners with B2U to Repurpose Retired Robotaxi Batteries for Energy Grids

Waymo has entered into an agreement with energy storage firm B2U to utilize retired batteries from its robotaxis for electricity grid support in California and Texas. This collaboration provides insight into the company’s strategy for managing the end-of-life phase for the thousands of autonomous vehicles it has rolled out across the United States. While the vast majority of Waymo’s current fleet consists of Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles, the company has recently begun introducing a small number of vans manufactured by the Chinese automaker Zeekr.

Regarding the scope of the new partnership, Waymo stated it would involve the deployment of “hundreds of megawatts of storage capacity,” though it declined to provide additional details. The move aligns with a broader industry trend toward battery repurposing rather than recycling. Similarly, Redwood Materials, which was founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel and receives partial backing from Alphabet, Waymo’s parent company, has recently launched its own second-life storage initiative utilizing used EV batteries.

Source: TechCrunch Generated at: 2026-06-04 15:48:41 UTC