Electric vehicles are, at heart, mobile energy storage devices, and the US company Dannar is taking full advantage. Dannar has come up with a series of wheeled electric workhorses aimed at knocking out diesel generators and other off-road equipment. They may look weird, but they sport packs of powerful EV batteries from BMW, and they are featured in a high-impact Department of Defense showcase for new extended duration energy storage technologies.

BMW EV Batteries For A Diesel-Killing Mobile Energy Storage UnitDannar and BMW began co-developing i3 EV batteries for off-road use around 2015, in a vehicle described as a “first-of-its-kind electric heavy-duty vehicle for infrastructure maintenance and disaster response.”

By 2017 they were ready to roll, and Dannar announced that its new Mobile Power Station® off-road work vehicles would deploy BMW i3 EV batteries. “The MPS can carry multiple BMW i3 battery packs on-board its steel ladder frame and 40,000 lb. rated axles,” Dannar explained back in 2017.

“Custom configurations of multiple BMW batteries provide appropriate clean energy for single day or multiple day work requirements,” they added.

Rather than rest on the laurels of zero emission workability, Dannar front-loaded the Mobile Power Station with a Lego-like ability to add and subtract various off-the-shelf parts and equipment, enabling its owners to use the same vehicle for different tasks, under different seasonal conditions.