On May 23, 2022, Suzuki announced that it has apparently developed a technology to take small lithium-ion batteries from end-of-life vehicles and reuse them to store energy for solar-powered street lights. Although Suzuki sells its vehicles all over the world, this use will, for now, remain exclusive to the Japanese market. Still, it’s encouraging to see, isn’t it?
Now, Suzuki didn’t give any details at all about what this technology entails—the announcement was basically just to say “hey, look at this cool thing we’re doing.” It also stresses that this effort is non-profit in nature, and that the tech was developed using some of the money granted to Suzuki through Japan’s existing vehicle recycling fees. Wait...vehicle recycling fees?
