AFTER LIFE

Audi is exploring ways to give spent EV batteries a second life. Vicky Parrott tries one

-  Vicky Parrott

There is something of The Crystal Maze to the day so far.

Running from one vast factory building to another: to one line, where Audi Q8 E-tron doors and wiring looms are fitted to the shell, to another building to witness the 'marriage' of the body to the chassis, to the 'Centre for analysis' to witness lasers analyse panel gaps for accuracy, and then to a junction of avenues that feed traffic through Audi's Brussels plant, where we witness a slow-motion ballet of automated parts-moving machines merging with manned forklifts, as the entire facility synchronises through an everyday symphony of modern manufacturing.

All it would take is for someone to shout "to the Industrial zone!" and then we'd all have to connect a Q8 E-tron wiring loom (all 60kg of it) correctly to release the crystal.

But even the dance of the automated parts machines that roll throughout the facility is not as cool as the very modern-looking rickshaw that awaits us just past row A22. This is no ordinary rickshaw.

This is the combined effort of the Audi Environmental Foundation and German-Indian company Nunam, which specialises in ethical and environmental battery reuse.

Underneath it is a rickshaw frame from the 1970s, but the rest is freshly engineered by Audi trainees in the company's Neckarsulm plant in Germany and majors on recycled or reused parts. Chief among them are four used 2.5kWh lithium ion battery packs that provide a range of 75-90 real-world miles.

Electric rickshaws are nothing new. They're widely used around the world, but most are powered by traditional lead-acid batteries.