There's plenty of stuff you can do with a used car, but it takes a certain amount of will and a sharp mind to think of something useful. The Lamar Buffalo Ranch field campus received a special treatment from Toyota.
You might not know a lot about the Lamar Buffalo Ranch farm in Yellowstone National Park, but the over 100 years old settlement is now using reliable, sustainable, zero emission power for its ranger station and education center.
All this was possible after Toyota put to good application 208 used Camry Hybrid batteries combined with solar energy. The resulting system uses solar panels to generate renewable electricity, which is eventually stored using the Toyota Camry nickel-metal battery packs, recovered from Toyota dealers across the United States.
“Through our long-standing partnership with Yellowstone National Park and the Yellowstone Park Foundation, Toyota has helped preserve Yellowstone for future generations,” said Jim Lentz, chief executive officer, Toyota North America. “Today, our relationship with Yellowstone continues, as more than 200 battery packs that once powered Toyota Camry hybrids have found a new home on the range.”
The Yellowstone system set up by Toyota is also the first one relying on car batteries for commercial energy storage. Before being given a new purpose, each battery was disassembled and tested. This way, engineers were able to use as many used pieces as possible in conjunction with new components.
Hybrid batteries typically reach the end of their usable life in automobile-grade applications with significant remaining power storage capacity. Below you can find further details on the Yellowstone National Park Sustainability Project Energy Storage and Management System.
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