British engineer Chris Doel thought it was absolutely insane that disposable vaping pens contain fully rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, the same technology marketed as the alternative to throwaway batteries, so he decided to prove just how wasteful the entire industry really is. The 26-year-old Jaguar Land Rover engineer stripped the lithium batteries from 500 discarded vapes, some collected from festivals and others donated by a local shop happy to avoid recycling fees, and wired them together to create a battery bank powerful enough to run his entire house for eight hours. After six months of sorting through 2,000 donated vapes using a modified CPAP machine to mechanically test each battery, Doel built a 2.5 kilowatt-hour power pack that successfully ran every electrical component in his home including the microwave, kettle, and all lighting completely off-grid. The project started small when Doel watched friends throw away blinking vapes at festivals, opened them up, and discovered that despite being marketed as disposable, every single one contained a perfectly good rechargeable battery that could be used again and again.
He documented the entire building process on YouTube, carefully soldering fuses between each battery to prevent short circuits and using 3D printed cases to organize the 500 cells wired in parallel groups connected in series. The viral video showing him powering his house with discarded vape batteries has already racked up over four million views, sparking conversations about the massive environmental waste created by single-use vaping products. Fortunately, it became illegal for UK businesses to sell or supply single-use vapes in June, though Doel notes the devices are still built for mass consumption and remain incredibly cheap despite containing components designed to last for years. Now working on converting his creation to solar power for constant recharging or cheaper overnight charging, Doel has proven that what millions throw in the trash each year represents super valuable technology capable of powering homes, workshops, and even electric bikes for extended periods.
