Recommendation and Configuration of Value-Added Services for Repurposing Electric Vehicle Batteries: A Vertical Software Prototype

Due to degradation effects, electric vehicle batteries (EVBs) have a lifetime of approximately ten years in electric vehicles (EVs). Recycling EVBs is inefficient and ecologically undesirable if the batteries can be repurposed to second life scenarios. Decision support systems (DSSs) can be implemented to identify the best second life scenario for which to repurpose individual batteries. However, the properties of EVBs as used products can cause information asymmetries that challenge or even disrupt the market for used EVBs. Providing value-added services with used EVBs is one strategy to mitigate the information asymmetry. Guided by seven design principles, we develop and demonstrate a vertical software prototype for configuring energy storage solutions (ESSs), consisting of used EVBs and value-added services. Core of the system is an item-based collaborative filtering recommender system. The prototype can serve as a blueprint for a class of information systems to repurpose other used goods as customer solutions.