An unlikely piece of automotive history has found a new purpose at DTE’s Muskegon Service Center as a cozy hangout for local bats.
What do an electric vehicle battery and a bat house have in common? At Muskegon, quite a bit. The habitat was built from the housing of a Chevrolet Volt battery, turning a durable automotive part into a home for local wildlife. When the project began, electric vehicles were just starting to gain traction, making the repurposed housing a combination of forward-thinking technology and environmental stewardship.
“The bat habitat shows how innovation and environmental responsibility can work together,” said Ivana Liikala, business execution specialist at DTE’s Muskegon Service Center. “By giving the battery housing a new purpose, we created a safe space for local wildlife and a lasting reminder of our commitment to the communities and environments we serve.”
Bats may have a spooky reputation, but they are helpful neighbors. By eating insects, they play an important role in the local ecosystem. DTE employees have not spotted any bats in their new home, but that’s to be expected. Bats tend to snuggle in after sunset, when employees have already headed home.
To find out whether bats were flying nearby, Muskegon joined other greater Michigan locations in a monitoring project. Teams used a specialized ultrasonic microphone connected to a cellphone charging port to listen for bat sonar calls after dark. The device was used at different facilities with bat habitats, giving each location a chance to hear their resident bats.
The identification app detected multiple bat species around the Muskegon site. Although the team does not know exactly which species stopped by, the recordings confirmed plenty of bat activity near the service center.
Two local Girl Scout troops were enlisted to help install the habitat. Through hands-on participation, the Scouts learned about wildlife conservation, habitat creation, and the important role bats play in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. They saw firsthand how an old automotive component could become a new home for wildlife and learned why bats deserve a little appreciation, not just a starring role in Halloween decorations.
Today, the unusual bat house is proof that a creative idea, reused material and a little teamwork can give local wildlife something to flap about.