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From Cars to Grid: Moment Energy Reinvents Energy Storage with Repurposed Batteries
Description
Eddy Chiang is Co-founder and CEO of Moment Energy, a company building commercial-scale energy storage systems from repurposed electric vehicle batteries. By testing, certifying, and remanufacturing second-life battery modules, Moment Energy is creating lower-cost alternatives to new lithium-ion storage while extending battery lifespans by decades.
In this episode of Inevitable, Chiang explains how a growing wave of retired EV batteries is reshaping the energy storage market—making recycling alone economically unviable. The conversation covers the technical and regulatory challenges of certifying second-life systems, how Moment Energy became the first company to achieve full UL certification, and why safety, not cost, is the real barrier to adoption.
We also explore how distributed battery systems can replace traditional grid upgrades, why hyperscaler demand is accelerating deployment, and how Moment Energy is positioning storage not just as a product, but as long-term infrastructure designed to last 100 years.
MCJ is a three-time investor in Moment Energy. The company just closed a $40M Series B co-led by Evok Innovations and the Canadian Growth Fund — with the participation of Amazon, Liberty Mutual, Voyager and our fund.
Episode recorded on April 14, 2026 (Published on May 5, 2026).
In this episode, we cover:
- (0:00) An overview of Moment Energy
- (2:47) Moment Energy’s market evolution
- (6:37) What certification means and why it’s the hardest part
- (10:22) Are second-life batteries actually safe?
- (12:15) Hardware + software: how Moment Energy builds safe systems
- (15:39) Moment Energy’s product: modular, distributed battery systems
- (19:06) Batteries vs grid upgrades: the core economic tradeoff
- (25:35) Repurposed batteries and domestic supply chains
- (29:49) The second life of EV batteries and why most still have value
- (35:20) Designing battery systems to last 100 years
- (42:53) Demands for AI, hyperscalers, and distributed storage
- (47:55) Working with Amazon and scaling deployment
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant