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9 Belo Jardim as of July: “Our idea is to launch them at Movimat (a trade show for logistics that will take place in São Paulo in October). The next step will be to supply to cell phone stations”. In the automotive sector, things will develop at a steadier pace. There is an ongoing project, in a partnership with Eletra, to develop a 100% electric bus equipped with a Moura lithium battery – another partner will be XALT Energy, an American company that is part of the Freudenberg Group. In the second half of the year, a prototype will be ready, but Castelão foresees that it will take another two to three years for demand to justify local production. “Demand should come from bus operators, especially in the city of São Paulo, that has defined a calendar to reduce CO2 fleet emissions. The city administration plans on getting to an exclusive fleet of hybrid and electrical models in twenty years’ time”. Concerning automobiles, Castelão is still unsure. Despite the recently announced Toyota project for a hybrid flex model, he still believes the volume out there is insufficient to justify entering the business – but is adamant that once the demand is there, the product will be offered: “There is also the possibility to supply to vehicles recharging stations, particularly of the fast recharge kind. A bank of batteries can perform a fast recharge and the energy network will recharge these batteries gradually, without generating electrical overload”. The battery banks, or energy stocking systems, are another wager the company sees as a possibility for the Brazilian market. They consist of several batteries, put together, that store energy – especially in wind and sun matrices, whose availability is not linear – for later use. Recycling – Just as it does with the lead batteries, Moura is working to operate the reversal logistics of lithium batteries. These, however, have a longer life span, and also the possibility of a second use: a car battery, once they complete their regular usage, can be used in an energy storage system, for instance. “We are the largest lead recyclers in Brazil. To every battery sold in the aftermarket, another one is recycled. Lithiumwill be no different, even with a longer life span”.