Utah scientists turning old electric vehicle batteries into solar energy storage The batteries in electric vehicles can last quite a while, but over time they hold less of a charge. Now Utah State University researchers want to turn the retired EV batteries into solar energy storage and last updated 2021-04-29 15:03:16-04 LOGAN, Utah â As electric vehicles (EVs) become more popular, the big question arises about what we should do with the old batteries once they don't hold as much of a charge like they used to. "Weâre expecting more than 5 million tons of retired batteries from electric vehicles by 2030," said Dr. Hongjie Wang, an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Utah State University (USU).