Moment Energy earns UL 60730-1 functional safety certification for a second-life EV battery BMS

Moment Energy has achieved UL 60730-1 functional safety certification for a battery management system designed specifically for repurposed EV batteries, completing what the Austin-based company describes as the full UL safety stack for second-life storage.

The certification addresses the specific friction that has slowed second-life battery deployments in commercial and industrial settings: proving to insurers, permitting authorities and utilities that a system built from retired EV batteries meets the same independently verified safety standards as purpose-built storage. UL 60730-1 covers functional safety for automatic electrical controls; applying it to a second-life BMS is the missing piece. Moment already held UL 1974 (repurposed battery evaluation), UL 1973 (stationary battery applications), and UL 9540 (energy storage systems). The 60730-1 closes the loop at the BMS control layer.

Moment’s approach differs from the common industry workaround of reverse-engineering the original automotive BMS. Its proprietary BMS is purpose-built to manage repurposed cells for stationary performance and safety while respecting automotive partner IP — a distinction that matters both technically and commercially as Moment works with OEMs including Mercedes-Benz Energy.

“This certification proves that with the right technology, repurposed batteries can match purpose-built storage on safety, reliability, and performance,” said Gabe Soares, Co-Founder and CTO at Moment Energy. “It gives customers, battery OEMs, automakers, utilities, and regulators the confidence to deploy repurposed EV batteries in critical infrastructure without compromise.”

The company’s systems are deployed in data centers, hospitals, factories, and microgrids across North America, manufactured in Texas and British Columbia. The certification also provides a certified safety boundary for Moment’s AI and machine-learning optimization capabilities.

Source: Moment Energy

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Roam to deploy EV charging at Hand Picked Hotels’ luxury country house properties

Roam Charging has secured a contract to deploy EV charging infrastructure across Hand Picked Hotels’ portfolio of luxury country house hotels and coastal resorts.

Roam will install and operate 112 EV charge points across 20 of Hand Picked Hotels’ UK properties. Roam will manage the full lifecycle of the installations, including design, deployment and ongoing maintenance.

The 20 distinctive hotels are located at historic estates and scenic countryside locations across the UK and the Channel Islands. Roam’s EV charging stations will provide destination charging for overnight guests.

“This partnership with Hand Picked Hotels is a natural fit. Their portfolio of unique high-quality destinations across the UK and Channel Islands offers exactly the kind of dwell-time environment where EV charging adds real value,” said James Randall, CEO of Roam Charging. “Together we’re enabling guests to travel more sustainably without compromising on comfort or experience.”

Source: Roam

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For electric trucks, “the math is simple,” says Chinese heavy machinery OEM

Electric trucks have passed an inflection point—in many cases, their total cost of ownership is lower than that of legacy trucks. But for a fleet operator, evaluating the economic case for electrification involves some complex calculations involving fuel costs, projected maintenance costs, duty cycles, CapEx vs Opex, etc.

Or does it? Michael Yue, General Manager of the truck business unit at Chinese machinery giant Sany Heavy Industry, offers a simple equation: In any locale where it costs at least ten times as much to buy one liter of diesel as to buy one kilowatt-hour of electricity, an electric truck will pay off its additional purchase cost in 12 to 14 months—a timeframe that makes electrification a no-brainer for truck operators.

Mr. Yue probably knows whereof he speaks—in China, around 11% of heavy long-distance trucks and 20% of smaller commercial vehicles sold over the past year were battery-electric. Sany, facing sagging demand from China’s domestic construction industry, is aggressively seeking overseas sales, and the relationship between local diesel and electricity prices is a major factor in deciding which markets to target.

Bloomberg’s David Fickling has done some further calculations, and reports that countries accounting for about 40% of global diesel demand currently meet that ten-times multiple. Even looking at average 2025 diesel prices, he finds that more than a third of the world’s diesel is burned in countries where it costs at least nine times more than equivalent units of electricity. By 2030, BloombergNEF predicts that the EVs-outcompete-diesel multiple will shrink to four times the cost. If and when that comes to pass, even petrostates such as Saudi Arabia will find battery-electric trucks to be cheaper.

Many of Sany’s potential customers are in Europe, where stringent fuel economy rules are supporting electric truck sales. But looking at the electricity-vs-diesel cost curve explains why the company is also seeing strong interest from operators in South Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.

A trend is becoming clear: the smaller auto and truck markets typically lumped together as “Rest of World” by the media are likely to leapfrog the US and Europe, and electrify much sooner.

Source: Bloomberg

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Monomyth Materials acquires NanoGraf to pair SiOx silicon anodes with its domestic synthetic graphite platform

Monomyth Materials has acquired the assets of NanoGraf, a Chicago-based silicon anode company spun out of Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory, pairing SiOx technology and a defense-validated IP portfolio with its domestic synthetic graphite business. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

The NanoGraf assets become the foundation of a new subsidiary, M2Innovations, focused on advanced battery materials and prototype cell development from R&D through pilot scale. It sits alongside M2Graphite—Monomyth’s synthetic graphite business, simultaneously rebranded from Anovion Technologies—which handles commercial-scale production. The combination covers essentially the full active anode stack: graphite and silicon together make up virtually all of the active material in a lithium-ion anode, and both are currently dominated by Chinese supply.

Over 90% of active anode material is sourced from China today, and China accounts for more than 60% of global SiOx capacity. NanoGraf’s SiOx technology is already deployed in consumer electronics and military applications, with validation from federal defense and energy agencies, including the Department of Energy.

M2Graphite was assembled from graphite assets formerly held by Amsted Industries and Pyrotek. Amsted remains a minority shareholder. The Bainbridge, Georgia site is slated to be the first of several facilities, backed by three planned capital programs of more than $1 billion each. Monomyth has invested more than $100 million in the platform since 2022.

Francis Wang, who led NanoGraf through its growth stage, will join the M2Innovations advisory board.

Source: Monomyth Materials

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Why integrated FPC-based cell contact solutions are essential to battery pack manufacturing

Sponsored by Churod Electronics.

Increased battery density is the endgame of all cutting-edge battery design, improvements cannot come at the expense of safety or cost limitations. The question then becomes how to push the envelope in a safe and cost-effective way. Monitoring the state-of-health of cells is at the top of the list of considerations.

Accurately measuring ambient factors like temperature and voltage provides critical data to the BMS. For years, this could be done through discreet wiring, though this method was inefficient, and the quality was lacking. In today’s designs, flexible printed circuit boards (FPCs) are replacing discrete wiring. These FPC-based systems are the newest generation of cell contacting systems. They simultaneously bring down the cost of pack manufacturing and improve reliability in manufacturing and data harnessing.

The quality of data is essential in order to safely maximize energy density. This white paper from Churod Electronics details the hows and whys of FPC-based Cell Contacting Systems and how this cost-effective, yet reliable tool is a key to modern battery pack efficiency.

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Zero 60 launches 26 EV charging ports in California

Public charging provider Zero 60 has added 26 new charging ports at three new locations in central and northern California. With the latest expansion, Zero 60 now operates 127 charging ports at 23 locations in California, Colorado, New York, Washington and Wisconsin.

Faith Technologies Incorporated (FTI) provided site development, construction, commissioning and ongoing operations support.

Zero 60 focuses on convenient, high-traffic sites such as quick-service restaurants, retail centers and travel corridors. Quick deployment is a priority. Fifty more charging points at sites around the country are in the pipeline.

“Adding this level of capacity in such a short time shows what’s possible when strategy, partnerships and execution align,” said eMobility Program Manager Joe Vancik. “Zero 60 is built to scale, and this growth is just the beginning.”

“This momentum reflects our ability to move fast and deliver what drivers and site partners need right now,” said Wade Leipold, Executive VP of Faith Technologies Incorporated. “By combining strong site partnerships with FTI’s end-to-end eMobility expertise, Zero 60 is scaling quickly while staying focused on reliability, convenience and the driver experience.”

Source: Zero 60

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Ford launches a new stationary battery energy storage business

Several EV manufacturers have branched out into the stationary battery biz, including Tesla and BYD. Now that the data center bubble is puffing up at an impressive (or alarming) rate, beaucoup businesses are bounding onto the battery bandwagon.

Automakers are better qualified than most to address this market. The latest to jump onboard is Ford, which has created a new wholly owned subsidiary, Ford Energy, to provide battery energy storage systems (BESS) for utilities, data centers and large industrial and commercial customers in the US.

Ford has been preparing for the launch for “the better part of a year,” securing supply chains and repurposing manufacturing sites. The company plans to invest some $2 billion to develop the new business (presumably in addition to the billions of bucks that it invested through the BlueOval SK venture).

Ford Energy’s flagship product, the Ford Energy DC block, is a standardized 20-foot containerized battery energy storage system designed around 512 Ah LFP prismatic cells. Ford will offer two configurations: the FE-250 (a two-hour system) and the FE-450 (a four-hour system). Both integrate LFP prismatic battery technology, liquid-cooled thermal management and a battery management system.

Ford will repurpose its abandoned battery manufacturing plant in Glendale, Kentucky. Ford Energy plans to deploy at least 20 GWh annually (which, as Electrek notes, is about half of Tesla’s planned Megapack production), and aims to make its first customer deliveries in late 2027.

Ford certainly has industrial and corporate assets to bring to the BESS table. “Utilities and developers need storage systems they can finance, insure and depend on for decades. They need suppliers who will be there in year 10 to honor a warranty claim,” the company correctly points out. “Ford has manufactured at industrial scale for more than a century.”

The data center boom is terrible news for the global climate and for local communities. If it proves to be a bubble, it will be a disaster for the US economy, but if it lasts, it could be good news for Ford and other legacy auto OEMs. As the ICE vehicle market dwindles, US brands may increasingly abandon global auto markets to China. For Ford and other automakers that have chosen not to compete in the EV market, building batteries for data centers could be a way for them to repurpose their massive factories, and someday to pivot to a new product mix if and when their automotive business fizzles.

Source: Ford Energy

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