Episode Summary
Executive Summary: Moment Energy CEO Eddie Chang explains how the company has scaled repurposed EV batteries into certified stationary storage, now backed by a $40M Series B. The discussion centers on safety certification, domestic supply, economics versus new lithium-ion, and growing demand from utilities, airports, logistics firms, and hyperscalers needing fast, insurable, energy-dense power.
Main Topics: Series B funding and scale-up (Priority: 5/5): Moment Energy announced a $40M Series B led by Evoke Innovations and the Canadian Growth Fund, with participation from existing backers including Amazon and MCJ. The capital will expand manufacturing capacity in Vancouver and a new gigafactory in Austin, Texas. Second-life battery certification and safety (Priority: 5/5): Chang details how Moment became the first and only company with UL 1974 manufacturing certification and, as of July 2025, full system-level certification. The company emphasizes testing, fire containment, and replacing vehicle BMS systems with its own AI-driven controls. Commercial and industrial storage as the core market (Priority: 4/5): The company focuses on C&I deployments where batteries can avoid expensive grid upgrades, support EV charging, and provide dense local power for hospitals, airports, logistics depots, and industrial sites. Hyperscaler and data center demand (Priority: 4/5): Moment is increasingly pulled toward data centers and AI infrastructure, where certified, compact storage can help manage short-duration peak loads and reduce dependence on slow grid upgrades. Domestic content and policy advantage (Priority: 4/5): Repurposed batteries sourced from vehicles in allied countries can qualify as domestic content, helping Moment navigate FIoC/IRA constraints and avoid dependence on Chinese supply chains. Economics of repurposing versus new batteries (Priority: 5/5): Chang argues second-life systems are materially cheaper than new lithium-ion, especially once tax credits apply, because used battery modules can be acquired for little or no cost while new cells remain expensive. Long-life grid infrastructure vision (Priority: 4/5): Moment frames batteries as permanent infrastructure, with concrete pads and interconnection lasting decades or a century while only the chemical component is swapped out over time.
Key Arguments: Second-life EV batteries are technologically de-risked; Moment has deployed systems that have cycled up to five times a day for five years with low degradation. Safety certification is essential because uncertified systems can make large assets like data centers uninsurable. Repurposing is safer than many assume because EV batteries were originally designed to survive harsher vehicle conditions than stationary storage. Most end-of-life batteries do not need full recycling: often only one failed cell or module forces retirement of an entire pack, leaving most capacity usable. Moment’s proprietary testing and AI battery management system are key differentiators because it does not simply reuse the vehicle BMS or expose packs in uncontrolled environments. C&I storage is a better fit than utility-scale for Moment because the market is underserved, energy-dense deployment matters, and Chinese suppliers are less dominant at smaller volumes. Using domestic used batteries helps Moment qualify under U.S. policy regimes that penalize foreign entities of concern. The company believes second-life storage will remain cheaper than new lithium-ion even as LFP prices fall. Moment’s long-term advantage is not just battery cost but reducing the 60% of project cost tied to deployment, construction, and interconnection. The business is moving from product sales toward infrastructure ownership logic: build once, then swap chemistries over time. Hyperscalers need interim power solutions now, not in years, making batteries a practical bridge before full grid buildouts. Moment is scaling because end-of-life battery supply is about to surge, creating a major market for both repurposing and recycling.
Data Points: Series B size: $40 million - Moment Energy’s newly announced financing round Team size growth: 72 employees - Company scale-up from a much smaller team four years earlier Facility size: 20,000 square feet - Vancouver manufacturing facility historically used for battery manufacturing Certification milestone: UL 1974 - Moment became the first and only company in North America to achieve this manufacturing facility certification Full system certification milestone: July 2025 - Moment says it became the only company in the world with full product/system-level certification as well as facility certification Battery degradation example: 65% to 58% - A Nissan Leaf battery deployed for five years and equivalent of 30 years of cycles Cycle performance: Up to 5 cycles per day - Used to illustrate the intensity of real-world testing and durability Equivalent life: 30 years worth of cycles - Performance claim for deployed second-life batteries Half Luna capacity: 400 kWh - Smaller Luna system form factor Full Luna capacity: 1 MWh - Larger Luna system form factor Utility-scale threshold: >100 MWh - Chang’s rough definition of utility-scale storage Commercial and industrial range: 1-2 MWh - Described as common C&I scale Energy density improvement: 5x - Moment claims its data-center deployment is 5x more energy dense than comparable second-life projects End-of-life battery supply: 950 GWh - Estimated end-of-life battery volume expected over the next 2-3 years Current system footprint: Less than a 10-foot container - Physical size of Moment’s current certified systems Battery module acquisition cost: About $10 per kWh - Average known price Moment can pay for second-life modules New Chinese battery module price: About $90 per kWh - Comparative cost for a new module from Chinese manufacturers American-made batteries relative cost: ~30% more expensive - Chang says domestic new batteries are roughly 30% costlier than Chinese batteries without credits Potential tax-credit advantage: 30%-50% cheaper - Moment claims it can undercut Chinese batteries by this amount with tax credits Chinese cell quote: $180 per kWh all-in - Example price cited for CATL in C&I context Transformer wait time: 3 years - Utility upgrade bottleneck for sites needing electrification Upgrade cost example: $20 million per site - Power line and transformer upgrade estimate for some logistics depots and airports
Pivotal Quotes: "Safety is paramount for sure." — Eddie Chang: Explaining why Moment pursued certification and fire-testing rather than lobbying to relax standards "Why don't we create a 30-year system? Why don't we create an 100-year system where in reality, you leave the concrete pad out there, you leave the interconnection out there, you even see the container? It's been there for 100 years." — Eddie Chang: Describing Moment’s long-duration infrastructure vision "If you have, let's say, a $10 billion data center... if you install an uncertified system onto a $10 billion data center, well, that whole data center is now uninsurable." — Eddie Chang: Explaining why certifications matter for large commercial customers
Implications: Second-life batteries are moving from niche idea to mainstream infrastructure. If Moment’s certification, economics, and domestic-supply thesis hold, repurposed batteries could accelerate electrification, cut grid-upgrade costs, and become a major bridge for data centers, EV fleets, and critical facilities.