British company Allye Energy has unveiled the MEV, a battery-buffered fast charger for depots. The system uses complete second-life batteries from EVs and is designed to provide up to 400 kW of charging power without necessarily requiring a more powerful grid connection.

The Mobile Energy Vault (MEV) is designed to draw energy from an existing depot power connection and initially store it in repurposed vehicle batteries. During charging, this energy can then be delivered at significantly higher power levels. According to media reports, Allye primarily targets fleet locations where the available grid connection capacity is insufficient for conventional fast charging.

At launch, two variants are planned. The MEV200 offers 155 kWh of storage capacity, while the MEV300 provides 232 kWh. Both systems are capable of charging two vehicles simultaneously. Allye specifies a maximum DC charging power of up to 400 kW.

The technical foundation is the 800-volt architecture of the Max300 mobile battery storage system. According to the manufacturer, it supports both 400-volt and 800-volt vehicle systems. The so-called PackFlex technology enables the operation of battery packs of varying sizes, ages and cell chemistries within a single system.

Allye states that it uses complete battery packs from decommissioned electric vehicles, rather than newly produced cells. Per unit, this approach is estimated to save approximately 15 to 24 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents compared to a system using new batteries. This figure is based on the manufacturer’s calculations.

The approach involves decoupling grid power and charging power. The battery system can be charged over an extended period at relatively low power from the grid and then deliver this energy to vehicles at high power for short durations.

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