Waymo Robotaxis Give Batteries Second Life Powering Grids

Thousands of batteries from self-driving robotaxis will soon get a second career storing clean energy for local power grids instead of ending up in landfills.

Waymo, the autonomous taxi company, just partnered with B2U Storage Solutions to transform used batteries from its nearly 4,000 electric vehicles into stationary energy storage systems. These repurposed batteries will capture excess solar and wind power during quiet periods and release it when communities need electricity most.

The timing couldn't be better. Waymo's robotaxis rack up far more miles than typical electric cars because they're on the road constantly picking up passengers. That means batteries wear out faster, but they still have plenty of life left for other uses.

"There's still a lot of life left in the battery," said Adam Lenz, Waymo's head of sustainability. Most electric vehicle batteries retain over 81 percent of their original capacity after eight years, making them perfect candidates for grid storage even after they're too degraded for demanding automotive use.

B2U has already started receiving initial shipments of Waymo batteries at its Lancaster, California facility, which houses more than 1,300 repurposed electric vehicle batteries. The company expects to gain hundreds of megawatt hours of storage capacity from Waymo's fleet over time.

The partnership creates a beautiful circle. Batteries that once powered robotaxis in California and Texas communities will now support the same local grids that charge those vehicles. A 24 megawatt hour storage project in Bexar County, Texas will help power Waymo's growing service in San Antonio.

The Ripple Effect

This agreement reflects a much bigger movement sweeping the nation. The United States installed a record 9.7 gigawatt hours of battery storage in early 2025, the largest first quarter in history and a 32 percent jump from the previous year.

Every stationary storage system helps solve one of renewable energy's biggest challenges: the sun doesn't always shine and wind doesn't always blow when people need power. By storing excess clean energy and releasing it during peak demand, these repurposed batteries make renewable energy more reliable and practical for everyone.

Waymo's all-electric fleet already prevents 530 tons of CO2 emissions with every 500,000 weekly trips. Now those same batteries will keep working for communities long after their road trips end, proving that sustainable technology can serve multiple purposes across its lifetime.

The partnership shows that the path to cleaner energy doesn't always require brand new solutions—sometimes the best answer is finding new ways to use what we already have.